Soul Eater The Madness Returns
by UndeadxXxOtaku
Summary: Life is going as normal at Shibusen, when without warning a girl from an elite school in Europe shows up with a very peculiar soul. What happens when she enrolls? When Chrona returns? When a new Kishin arises? What happens when a new terror reigns?
1. Intro Part One

"Hey Kidd, I thought you gave up on that whole symmetry thing…"Liz groaned, watching her tech bounce around the room.

"Since when did I say that?" Kid replied cheerily, straightening the large mirror. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with a little symmetry~" Liz groaned again, leaning her head back.

"I know Shinigami-sama's retired now, but do you HAVE to go remodeling the death room?" Liz asked. Kidd stood unresponsive, mumbling something about needing something to add to the balance. Patty giggled to herself just as a knock on the door rang through the room.

"Ah, yes, come in!" Kidd called. The door opened and Maka, or as some students called Mrs. Evans, stood in the doorway. Fifteen years had blessed her, turning her skinny bookworm body into the object of every horny schoolboy's fantasy. However, her straightforward attitude still remained, and now she was famed for sending many students, including Soul, to the infirmary with her Maka Chop.

"Oh, hey Maka." Liz greeted, standing straight again. Kidd turned around and gave Maka a warm smile.

"Maka! Long time no see. What can I do for you?" Kidd asked, skipping down the steps.

"Actually, Kidd, I'm just here to escort someone." Maka replied, stepping off to the side. In the doorway now stood a girl no older than 16. Her expression was blank, but Kidd didn't need to see her soul to know she was nervous. She looked over at Maka, who gave her a reassuring grin. She stepped forward as Maka introduced her.

"This is Rhya Aoyama, a student from the League of Angels in Europe," Maka reported. "She is a one star meister, but her former teachers have told me she has the skill and potential to become a two star. She can use a wide variety of weapons, from a cannon to a knife." Rhya gulped as she looked up at Kidd. He studied her for a moment. With her appearance, she reminded him of a Maka with attitude.

"Wait, League of Angels?" Liz asked. "Isn't that some sort of like an Ivy League version of Shibusen?" Kidd looked at Liz from the corner of his eye, and then looked back at Rhya.

"Actually, it merely focuses on training techs. They aim for creating meisters that can synch with nearly any weapon, wield any weapon, and overall have flexible souls, while Shibusen aims to create Death Scythes as well as strong techs." Kidd explained. Rhya gulped again, and looked down. Curiously, Kidd blinked and turned on his soul perception. He could feel Liz and Patty's buoyant, playful souls, and he could even see Maka's calm, collected soul. Then Rhya's soul appeared before him, a massive orb of unbalanced energy, with stitches and threads entrapping it. It almost looked like it would break at any moment.

"I would like to attend classes at Shibusen, Kidd-sama." Rhya exclaimed suddenly, causing Kidd to snap out of his daze. Kidd blinked and stared at her. Rhya shifted, and then spoke again. "You see, I never get to have long lasting relationships with my weapons at L.O.A, and besides, I simply believe that school wasn't my fit." Kidd studied her for a moment, long and hard. He sighed, and then held out his hand.

"Well, Rhya Aoyama, its an honor to make your acquaintance and to have you attend this school." Kidd chimed. Rhya gave a laugh, one with a slight nervous edge to it. She shook his hand in return, but looked directly at his chest. For the first time during the meeting, he realized that she hadn't looked him in the eyes, once. Kidd shook his head and turned to Patty. "Patty, I'd like you to take Rhya to the enrollment office. I'm sure Blair will enjoy having some company." Patty's face lit up as she giggled, taking Rhya's hand and dragging her out the door.

"Come on, come on!" Patty exclaimed. "I'll show you the kick boxing gym on our way there and kick some ASS!" Rhya squeaked as the two of them disappeared out of sight and the large doors closed behind them. Maka's smile was no longer there, only a grim shadow.

"I take it you saw her soul too?" Kidd asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Maka snorted

"Kidd, I felt her soul before you even knew she existed. "Maka replied. "That soul…her soul…"

"Yes, I know." Kidd interrupted. "However, I'm sure that her abnormal soul is no cause for alarm. If it puts your mind at ease, I will have her placed in your class." Maka sighed and slowly relaxed.

"No, put her in Soul's class." Maka said. "He is in constant battle with the black blood. Whatever is up with that girl, he will know how to handle it better than anyone else." Kidd nodded and turned around, looking at the mirror. Invisible scars were coated across his body, across his very soul, from the fight with Asura and his madness. Kidd began to wonder if Maka and the others had these same scars. If humans had these scars. Lastly, he wondered if the Kishin's madness had scarred that girl's soul beyond repair.

Shun lied back on his chair and groaned "Holy fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck..." Yuhei looked over at him.

"What?" Yuhei asked. Shun somewhat proped his head, only to have it crashing onto the desk.

"Why isn't Evans here yet?" Shun groaned again. Yuhei shrugged as Julia popped up between the two.

"Didn't you hear?" Julia asked. "There's a new tech from the League of Angels who's coming into this class." Yuhei's face lit up a bit as Shun's face separated from the desk.

"Who? I'm pen pals with a girl who goes there." Yuhei asked, closing his sketchbook. Julia shrugged.

"All I know is she's supposed to be a really good tech," Julia relpied. She then leaned down to Shun's ear and whispered. "I also heard from Aya that she's a hottie."

"Aya thinks any girl with bigger boobs than her is a hottie," Shun remarked playfully. Julia laughed and stood up.

"Well, if anything, you might get a meister." Julia replied as she walked away. Shun gripped his hands into fists, taking a deep breath. Yuhei sighed and patted his shoulder, a silent reassurance emitting from him.

"Ok, ok, shut up!" a voice suddenly boomed. Shun looked up groggily. There stood Evans, hands shoved in his pockets. In front of him stood a young girl, looking up nervously at the class.

_That must be the new tech_, Shun thought. Observing her better, he couldn't help but think that Aya's judgement wasn't solely made on breast size.

"This is our newest tech, Rhya Aoyama." Evans reported. "She's an exchange student from the League of Angels." Yuhei's fae lit up as he said the name.

"I do know her!" he whispered. Rhya looked at Yuhei and a small smile creeped on her face.

_She must be happy to know someone here.. _Shun thought. Somewhere inside him though, he felt a little jealous of Yuhei at that moment. He shook his head clear, then directed his attention back to Rhya.

"Well, um.. Hi," Rhya began as she addressed the class. "I'm Rhya, and I'm a tech.." She started to fidget a bit, apparently running out of things to say. "Um...one thing you HAVE to know about me is...I firmly believe the world will end in zombies and if you hate on Pokemon I will not hesitate to punch you." A few people in the class lauged at this, but Shun didn't notice them. This girl, who showed up out of nowhere, likes Pokemon AND zombies? It was a gift from Shinigami-sama himself!

"Um..." She began again, then looked back at Evans." I know there's a Shibusen open house in a few weeks, but would there happen to be a weapon I could partner with for now?" Evans looked up at Shun nonchalantly.

"Hey! Jezek! You awake?" Evans called. Shun held up his hand in response. Evan motioned his head to Rhya. "Wanna partner with Rhya for now?" Rhya looked up at Shun nervously, almost pleadingly.

_God, what I have I done to deserve such a blessing? _Shun exclaimed in his mind. "Yeah, that's cool." Shun replied, his voice betraying the excitement in his brain. With that, Rhya wasted no time running up the stairs and sitting in her seat, just a row below him right next to Scarlett. Evans rolled his neck and started lecturing on something relevent. But Shun had stopped listening. His mind was trying to gather what the fuck just happened.

"Wow, nice one Shun." Kaido whispered to him. Shun, almost shocked by Kaido's sudden attempt at a conversation, merely noded. Kaido looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Good luck." Kaido muttered under his breath. Shun looked at him, confused.

"Why?" Shun asked. Kaido didn't answer; instead, he intently focused on what Evans was teaching. Shun looked to the board, stumped.

_Kaido never talks, especially not to me, _Shun began to think. He must've known something in order to say that. But what could he know? Only Yuhei actually knew her before this point in time. So...how could he know something about her?

It suddenly clicked. Kaido was a tech. He could use the ability of soul perception, something he couldn't do. Whatever he saw, it must be something pretty intense.

Shun shook his head and rested his head back on the desk. Whatever he saw, Rhya was more or less his meister now, and he could learn to deal.

Note from UndeadxXxOtaku- thank you for reading the first chapter in my fan fic! More characters will be introduced in the next chapter. One thing I'd like to make points of, though

Shinigami-sama is Lord Death. That is just his name in the manga

When I say tech/meister, they're virtually the same thing. I like to bounce back and forth between the two terms, so I am sorry for any confusion.

Maka and Soul are married. Hence the . I am a firm supporter of SoMa and I'm not afraid to point it out.

Ok, onto the next chapter!


	2. Intro Part Two

"So, what do you think about the new girl?" Julia asked. Kaido shrugged, continuing to search for their target.

"All I want to know is why her last name's Aoyama," Myranda replied from her weapon form. "If she's from Europe, why does she have a Japanese last name?"

"OH! I know this one!" Scarlett exclaimed from her position on Kaido's fists. "I was wondering the same thing, so I asked her. She said she had run away from a very abusive family, and the L.O.A gave her a chance to change her last name to give her closure about that part in her life. She thought that Aoyama had a nice ring to it." Myranda snorted.

"Who gets THAT obsessed over a name?" She asked. Scarlett playfully pouted her lip.

"Awww, c'mon, she's not that bad." Scarlett pouted. Myranda rolled her eyes as an evil grin crossed her face.

"I never said I didn't like her, Scar." Myranda replied. "Jeez, calm yo' tits."

"Don't bring my boobs into this!" Scar replied back.

"Why? A little defensive over your B-Cups?" Myranda teased. Scar's face turned deep red.

"What the hell Myrady!" She exclaimed. Kaido blinked and looked at the knives on his hand.

"You're a B-Cup? I could've swore you were much smaller." Kaido teased with Myrady. Scar glared in anger at Kaido as Julia laughed. She plopped down on the roof, resting the cutlass on her lap.

"Don't worry, Scar." Julia chirped. "I heard Kaido taking bets in the boys bathroom about the very same thing. He was sure as hell you were at least a D." Kaido's face was the next to turn red, as Scar gave a laugh in triumph.

"Will you all shut up?" Ran hissed under her breath. "Do you not remember that we are on a mission here?" Everyone suddenly fell silent, going back to their assigned duties. Ran rolled her eyes and looked over the ledge. There below was the Witch's Meeting. Ran was sure that there was a special name they used for it, but she didn't care about witches enought to bother. She spotted Kim and Angela immediately, since they were at Shibusen 24/7. They weren't there for Kim and Angela though. A week ago, there was a report of the old black blood meister, Chrona, being spotted. Although many believe she was dead, if not powerless, Kidd decided that if Chrona was spotted, she must be captured.

"Do you see anything?" Keiran asked from behind her. Ran shook her head and sighed.

"Nothing." Ran replied, sitting up. "I thought Stein was regaining some sanity at his old age, but I guess not..." Keiran shrugged, then slowly stood up.

"Should we be going then? I have to go home and feed Jynx."Julia replied, beginning to stand up with the others. Suddenly, the witches meeting went quiet, and from the crowd stepped a woman in a pitch black dress with sleeves and a train of pitch black feathers, its sleek midnight color shining from the light of the candles.

"SH! Somethings going on! Get down!" Ran exclaimed quietly. Everyone suddenly ducked as the woman stopped and looked up at the lead witch, Mabaa-sama, and turned to the audience.

"Attention, fellow witches." She said, her voice carrying across the platform. "As many of you may have heard, Chrona has resurfaced. In the last meeting, we have decreed that any witch who finds Chrona is to kill her. I am here to request an appeal." She paused, giving her a dramatic effect. "I have found the dark meister, Chrona."

The entire crowd gasped. Keiran's unseeing eyes widened, and Ran's usually calm face went straight to panic. The witch raised her hand, causing the crowd to go silent.

"Under normal circumstances, I would request her death just as much as any other witch," she continued. "However, she appears to have severe amnesia. She remembers nothing of Medusa or the Keishen, and she has no idea why a mini man by the name of Ragnorok emerges from her back now and again. I do not know if she will ever recollect her memories, but I am asking you to call of the death warrant on her." The witches were speaking amongst themselves, and Kim and Angela's eyes widened in panic and disbelief. Mabaa-sama's voice bellowed from behind her.

"How could you dare ask such a thing? Medusa has not only tainted the name of witches, but she has almost brought the destruction of all life on Earth, her tool for doing so being the very girl you want to save!" The witch below shook her head.

"Great Mabaa-sama, Chrona is no longer herself. She remembers nothing. Her soul has been reborn. Can't you give her one chance to redeem herself for Medusa's sins?" Mabaa-sama floated there, silently, then turned around.

"Witch Ravenna, you have one chance with that accursed child. If she reverts to her old form, you and Chrona will be killed on the spot." Mabaa-sama decreed. Many witches exclaimed in protest, but Ravenna merely bowed her head and walked away. A large man, with the build of the hulk, gently wrapped a cloak of shining raven feathers around her, following her out of the meeting. The whole room suddenly burst in chatter and outrage. But Ran and the others had heard enough. They collapsed, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Well, what now?" Kaido asked, as Scar reverted into her human form. Ran closed her eyes in deep thought.

"This is major. Kidd-sama will hear this from Kim soon enough, but we need to inform the other members of the Spartoi right away." Ran decided. She looked back at the witch, who had just turned the corner. In a blink of an eye, something only Ran's highly trained eyes could detect, was a flash of blue. Ran gritted her teeth in anger.

"What is HE doing here?" She hissed under her breath. Keiran lowered his head, his voice low.

"You saw your father, didn't you?" Kerian muttered. Ran gripped onto the ledge, trying to prevent herself from chasing after him.

"Wherever he is, I want to know why." Ran hissed again. Keiran shook his head and gently placed his hand on Ran's shoulder.

"You'll get your chance soon. I've already heard Maka mentioning something about noticing his soul hanging around lately." Keiran muttered quietly. "Its only a matter of time before he shows back up at Shibusen." Ran tensed up, baring her teeth, and turned around.

"I swear I will get him one of these days." Ran sneered under her breath. "Black Star...my father...the man who abandoned his family. I will make you pay."

Note from Undead Otaku- BUM BUM BUUUUUM! Anywho, quick note here. I know Chrona's gender is indecisive, but 1.) It's too confusing to put 'it' instead of 'she', and 2.) in the manga chapters (the ones I read at least) she was called Medusa's daughter. Then she reverted back to being genderless. You can imagine Chrona as a guy if you like, since her gender wont really affect the outcome of the story. Just know that she will be addressed as a female for convenience.


	3. Intro Part Three

Rhya sighed. The gentle flicker of the candle was the only light. The room she rented was small, but it was enough room. Gintsuki, her silver fox, curled up on her lap, and yawned loudly. Rhya smiled and began to pet her head.

"I met a cat today, Gin." Rhya whipsered. "She had enough magic power to create a human form. I didn't even know an animal could have magic power." Gin sneeped in response, flopping his tail to and fro like a cat. Rhya gave a sad smile. Talking to a fox...it was as normal as breathing to her.

Suddenly, a knock rang at the door. Rhya blinked and sat up, startled. Gin shot up and out, running to his secret fort that Rhya had made him. Rhya blinked and stood up, curious. Who could that be, at this time of night? She walked up to the door and opened it slowly, very slowly...

"Oh, hey Shun." Rhya remarked, stunned. Shun smiled nervously as Rhya opened the door.

"Hey," Shun replied. "I was wondering if you'd want to go out and train a bit. You know, us being partners now and all..." Shun shoved his hands in his pockets. "And truthfully, I'm not used to having a tech, so I was thinking, maybe if we trained a bit, it'd be easier to use me when we get into an actual battle, instead of waiting till it happens.." Shun trailed off, and began to look down at his feet, kicking dust. Rhya smiled widely and laughed.

"You don't have to ask me," She said warmly. "You're my weapon now. If you want to train, by all means, let's go train!" Shun blinked and looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Really? That easily? I didn't think you'd want to train with a person you barely know, especially at this time of night.." Shun trailed off again, and Rhya snorted.

"Please. I'm practically nocturnal. Or, at least I wish I could be nocturnal. Besides, if you try anything, I'll beat the shit out of you. Now, let's go!" Rhya commanded, looking over her shoulder. "Gin! I'm leaving. Be good while I'm gone." Gin popped his head out of his secret spot and gave a small bark in reply. Rhya stepped out of the house and closed the door as Shun looked at Rhya curiously.

"You have a fox?" He asked, following her as she walked down the steps of her apartment. Rhya nodded.

"I've had Gin since I was 10. He was a gift to me from one of my teachers." Rhya explained. "She was originally Russian, and she knew the people who had domesticated a few silver foxes. So, she pulled some strings and got me one." Shun nodded, clearly impressed.

"Living at a school like the L.O.A.. that must've been intense." Shun replied, trying to create conversation. Rhya shook her head.

"Not really." Rhya remarked. "Actually, it was the same as Shibusen. Although, I learned today's lesson over 3 years ago. I guess when you have to teach both weapons AND meisters, you get a little behind, right?" Shun nodded slowly.

"Yeah, Shibusen's surprisingly laid back for such a huge school." Shun replied, walking down the sidewalk with Rhya. The night was clear and cool, the laughing moon chuckling as the two walked by. The only thing alive was the street lights that illuminated their path, the shops and apartments dark along with the pitch black of the night. Rhya smiled and held her head high, absorbing the cool night air.

"I don't know why, but I love the night." Rhya murmured. "It must make me seem really emo, but its calming, when most people are asleep, and the only people willing to stay awake this long are automatically awesome." Shun laughed and looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, the night is pretty beast." Shun replied. Rhya laughed as they neared their destination- Death City Park.

"So, what weapon do you transform into anyway?" Rhya asked. "I've been so absorbed about adjusting to this place, I haven't even asked the most fundamental question." Shun looked over at Rhya nervously, and gulped.

"I'm...I'm a bo." Shun stammered, lowering his eyes quickly. Rhya laughed a bit.

"You're a stick?" Rhya teased. Shun glared at her, almost hurt. Rhya's uplifted mood was automatically extinguished.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to be playful." Rhya murmered, her face turning sad and solemn. Shun sighed.

"Its ok, its just a lot of people have teased me because I'm a bo." Shun explained, still a bit quiet. "People always said I would never be a proper weapon because I had no destructive power. I don't even have a blade." Rhya snorted loud and obnoxiously.

"Are they stupid or something?" Rhya demanded. "We practice with weapons like that all the time at the L.O.A. They actually provide an advantage, because the opponent underestimates you." Rhya smiled evilly. "Besides, if you know how to use one right, a bo can bring someone down to their knees quicker than a gun." Shun smiled, a little embarrassed.

"If you say so," he replied. Rhya looked over at him. His face was much happier and brighter once she gave him some support. She smiled back, grabbing his hand.

"C'mon." Rhya said reassuringly. "I'll show you what I mean." Shun's face turned bright red, almost embarrassed to be holding the hand of a creature with breasts. However, he merely nodded, and in a beam of light, he transformed into his normal, human self into a bo.

Rhya's jaw dropped when she saw his weapon form. It didn't look like much, but Rhya couldn't help but admire it. Instead of wood, it was made from steel, its metal shining in the light of the moon. A stick bo was a dangerous weapon in the hands of a master. A metal bo was a dangerous weapon in anyone's hands.

"Wow." Rhya muttered. Shun's face reflected in the steel, the only thing visable being his eyes.

"What?" Shun asked nervously. Rhya laughed in disbelief.

"This is going to be sweet." Rhya muttered. Without warning she shot at a tree, swinging the bo hard across its bark. In its wake resided a deep gash, as if someone had took a chainsaw to it. Rhya laughed. She wasn't even trying with that. Shun had lots of potential, of that she was sure.

"Wo wo wo!" Shun exclaimed. "How the hell did you do that?" Rhya looked back at Shun.

"That? I just swung you and that's what happened." Rhya replied. Suddenly her eyes lit up. "Hey Shun, I want to try something." Shun looked up at Rhya, almost nervous. "Ok, some techs can emit their soul wavelength as an attack. Franken Stein and Black Star are two famous people who could do that. I've never been good at it, but I have the ability to do it. My idea... could I try channeling my wavelength through you to power charge our strike?" Shun's eyes widened.

"Wouldn't that, you know, kill me?" Shun asked nervously. Rhya shook her head wildly.

"No!" She snapped. "I'm not sure what would happen. Worst case scenario, you get shocked. That's why I'm asking for your permission." Rhya looked around, leaned to the bo, and whispered. "If I shock you, I'll give you all my porn. That's saying a lot, since I can't live without it." Shun's eyes lit up.

"You like pokemon...you're a zombie chick...and you watch porn. You are officially the best tech anyone could ask for." Shun declared. Rhya blushed a bit, a sweat drop appearing over her head.

"Actually, I read hentai. It's still considered porn, but, you know..." Rhya drug on. She quickly shook her head, focusing on the tree.

"K. Lets do this shiz." Rhya ordered. Calmly and carefully, she sent a thread of her soul wavelength to Shun, not enough to break a tree, not enough to severely hurt Shun if this went wrong. Slowly, she could faintly see her wavelength coil around the bow, like electricity. Without warning, she struck at the tree again. In the wake of her swing was a wave of light, and the tree snapped from the pressure, electrostatic coiling around its bark and its limbs. Suddenly, the tree crashed to the ground, shattering the silence of the night. Rhya panted as she widened her eyes and Shun transformed back into a human.

"Holy. Fuck." Shun breathed. Rhya laughed nervously.

"I guess I put a little too much juice into that..." Rhya replied, rubbing her arm nervously. Shun looked over at her.

"I felt that wave. It was nothing compared to your normal wavelength." Shun accused. Rhya blushed and looked away.

"You give me too much credit. I overestimated the amount of power I emitted. That's all." Rhya mumbled. Shun sighed.

"Don't give me that bull. Admit it, that was only a little bit." Shun demanded. Rhya shot him a sharp glance. Suddenly, footsteps broke the night's silence. Shun and Rhya looked down the street, two dark figures outlined in the night. Rhya suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"Hide." She commanded. Shun looked at her curiously, and she repeated. "Hide. Now!" She broke her stance and dashed into the bushes, disappearing in an instance. Shun, more confused than ever, slowly followed, hiding behind a bush instead of in it.

"Those meetings are such a chore," one voice groaned. The voice was one of elegance, with a clear feminine touch to it. "Why are witches even required to go to them? Honestly, its not like it does us any good." Rhya's eyes widened as the next voice spoke.

"Lady Ravenna, at least you were able to get the support of Mabaa-sama, and officially clear Chrona's name." The next voice reassured. It was much more masculine, throaty. The female, apparently named Ravenna, laughed.

"I only have one chance with that wretched brat." Ravenna hissed. "But, I suppose you're right. With the protection of Mabaa-sama, no one will dare defy her order. And I can't believe they bought into that lie! 'Chrona has amnesia'. I couldn't believe they bought it so easily. I thought I was going to have to use a bit of my magic to persuade them.." The man laughed.

"Oh, Ravenna, your prowess has a larger influence than you think." The man praised. "All we have to do now is awaken Chrona's power once again, and the Mad Hatter-"

"You fool!" Ravenna hissed. "Don't speak about our plans. If anyone overheard our conversation, I can persuade them to think differently. However, if you flat out say what we're trying to do, there's only so much my power can do." The man bowed his head.

"Yes, Ravenna." The man conceded. "Now, where is that block..." The two figures stood a few feet away from the park, in front of a building that said Chupa Cabra's. The man knocked on a couple of stones attached to the building, and finally one rang out, like he had just hit a tuning fork. He smiled evilly.

"Aku aku, hiraku." He chanted softly. Suddenly, the door swung open, pitch blackness emiting from the building. A head popped out of the opening.

"Draco! Lady Ravenna! You're finally here!" A woman chirped silently. "Come now, hurry. I don't know how long I can keep this portal open." The two nodded to the woman and stepped into the doorway, disappearing into the blackness. The door swung shut behind them, as if nothing had happened.

"Finally, I've found their hiding place!" A voice exclaimed. Rhya ducked lower into the bush, nervous about the new voice. Down jumped a man with electric blue hair, pumping his fists in the air.

"I knew I'd find them if I stayed silent long enough!" He exclaimed. "It was hard for a big star like me to pull it off, but I did it! Those witches are going down!" He flipped his head over to the park, looking directly at Rhya. "You can come out now, you know. I know you heard everything too." The first one to stand up was Shun, Rhya following slowly behind, leaves sticking in her hair. The man grinned cockily.

"I saw you wielding him, too." The man smirked. "I have to say, I'm impressed. You still have a long ways to go till you're at my level, but what can I say, you have a lot of potential." Shun gritted his teeth.

"You're Black Star, aren't you?" Shun accused. The man looked at him, crossing his arms.

"What if I am?" he jabbed, glaring at Shun. Shun stepped out from behind the bush, pointing a finger at him.

"You...you're despicable, you know that?" Shun hissed. "Leaving Shibusen without telling anyone. Leaving Tsubaki like that." Black Star narrowed his eyes.

"You would shut your mouth if you knew what was good for you." Black Star growled. "You don't know shit about me. Or what I've done. Now, you better get out of here before the other witches catch wind of you." With that, he disappeared, leaving only an after image of him. Shun cursed under his breath as Rhya slowly walked up to him.

"What was that about..?" She asked quietly. Shun scowled and shook his head.

"Nothing of importance." Shun muttered. "Lets just get home before the other witches come out." Rhya nodded slowly, deciding it was better to stay quiet. Black Star...who was he exactly?

"I'm sorry we didn't get to train more." Shun apologized. Rhya shook her head.

"Its fine. It couldn't be helped." Rhya consoled, leaning against her doorway. Shun gave a sad smile, shoving his hands back into his pockets.

"Well...I'll see you tomorrow." he muttered. Rhya nodded as Shun walked down the steps silently. Rhya sighed and stepped into the house, quiet as ever.

_Great, first time I train with my partner and witches planning to destroy the world interuppt us, and a man who can't stay quiet for 5 minutes without excruciating pain put Shun in a bad mood...what a terrible first day._

**I wouldn't say that exactly. **

Rhya froze in place. She shook wildly, closing her eyes.

_I didn't just here that, I didn't just hear that..._

**Oh really, you didn't? You really are a pathetic little girl.**

Rhya squeaked as she heard the voice again. In the background Gin growled, looking ready to dash away from Rhya at a moments notice. Rhya gripped onto her head, her eyes wide now.

_What the hell are you doing here? _She exlcaimed. _I gave up everything...EVERYTHING. Just so I could get rid of you. How-?_

**You think you can get rid of madness that easily? You pathetic piece of shit. You naive little girl. I am a part of you. **She could feel the dark, sticky voice in her head smile a toothy grin**. And I will absorb you. You cannot run from the madness forever. One day you shall trip and I will swallow you, swallow you whole, your entire being, your body, your heart, your soul, it will be mine, IT WILL BE MINE-**

"SHUT UUUP!" Rhya screamed, tears streaming down her eyes. She collapsed to the floor, sobbing with no chance for breath. Gin came up to her slowly, calm now, gently licking the tears from Rhya's face. Between Rhya's paniced hiccups for breath, the evil laughter of the madness echoed in her mind.

**Your soul will be mine, all mine, your pretty little soul will be mine~**

**And then you'll truly be all alone. **


	4. Enter the Spartoi

Rhya sat quietly in class, fidgeting once and awhile. The awkward note that Shun had left on had made her edgy, but she tried not to think about it. After all, the more she dwelled, the more it'd fester, and then..

She shook her head clear. She couldn't think about the madness. Thinking about it always made it worse. Just relax, breathe, think about kittens and foxes and those adorable little hedgehogs-

"Hey, Rhya." Scar exclaimed, shattering Rhya's image of a hedgehog wearing a tiny hat. Rhya pouted a bit, looking up at Scar. Part of her bangs covered her left eye, but she flipped it out, revealing a dark purple eye. It was a sharp contrast compared to her light blue eye. Rhya couldn't help but stare at them. Usually she's uncomfortable looking into peoples eyes, them being gateways to the soul and all, but she couldn't help but wonder why they were two different colors. Scar smiled.

"Wanna know why they're two different colors?" Scar asked, grinning widely. Rhya snapped out of her trance, starting to stammer.

"W-Well it was just- they're so different- I couldn't-" Rhya tried to explain, tripping over her words. Scarlett laughed, patting Rhya's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad." Scar soothed, grinning wider. "I have this little bet. Anyone who beats me in a battle can know why my eyes are two different colors." Rhya looked at Scar, almost wondering if she was joking. Scar's face was warm and kind, but showed no signs of humor. Rhya looked around.

"Is fighting allowed? I'm not sure if we can do that-" Rhya tried to reply, but Scar interrupted.

"Its fine as long as a teacher watches." Scar assured. "At Shibusen, people fight all the time. Hell, I got in a fight around an hour ago. Of course, I won." Scar smiled again. "So, what do you say?" Rhya sighed and looked up at Shun. He was fast asleep at his desk, slightly snoring.

"Hey, Shun." Rhya called. No response. She tried again, only louder. Still no response. Rhya sighed, stood up, and walked over to his desk. Using all of her might, she slapped down on the desk.

"Awaken stone dragon!" She bellowed. Suddenly Shun shot up, a sleepy expression still on his face. He looked up at Rhya, slowly waving his hand. Rhya sighed impatiently.

"Hey, a wild Scarlett wants to battle. Do you want to accept?" Rhya explained. It didn't even take Shun a second to grin and nod.

"Hell yeah." Shun exclaimed. "Hell, after yesterday, I don't think even the legendary Scar can defeat us." Rhya smiled confidently as Scarlett laughed.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves." Scar teased. "We haven't even gotten outside." Rhya turned around.

"We don't need to. We could finish this in here." Rhya teased back. Myrady howled in the background.

"Dude, Angels is battling Scar!" Julia called. The whole class erupted into a frenzy of calls and cheers. Scar rolled her eyes as Kaido stood up and stretched.

"C'mon, lets get this over with already." He muttered, stretching his arm out. Soul, who had just entered the room, groaned.

"Really Scar? AGAIN?" Soul complained. Scarlett laughed, her hair flipping around a bit.

"C'mon, Evans. Aren't you interested in seeing what the new girl can do?" Scar asked, holding her hand out to Rhya as if to present her. Soul scrunched his face, almost in thought, then shrugged.

"Eh, you've got me there." Evans muttered to himself. The then cleared his throat and waved his hand in the air, beckoning the class out the door. "Ok, c'mon, the sooner we do this the sooner we can get to class." The class cheered, excited for what was about to unfold. Scarlett looked at Rhya, smiled, and walked away, her posture calm and confident. Rhya smiled a bit, then followed her, Shun following close behind. It's been a long time since she felt this headstrong.

Rhya and Kaido stood at opposite ends of the courtyard, panting heavily. Rhya could feel blood dripping down the side of her face where Kaido just barely nicked her, and on her arm where he had gouged a bit into her arm. However, Rhya got her share of hits too- She accidentally hit him in the jaw with her bo, but it left a mark, and he was struggling to stand after the many hits to the stomach. But Rhya wasn't sure how much longer she could outrun them, and Scar's black blades were already tipped red with blood.

"Rhya," Shun muttered under his breath. "This is going to sound a bit far fetched, but we need to resonate. I don't think we can beat them the way we are if they keep this up." Rhya nodded solemnly, and sighed.

"I guess this is as good as time as any..." Rhya muttered. "I don't know how to resonate." Shun, through the reflection of the bo, facepalmed most epically.

"You're almost a two-star tech...you were even able to channel your soul wavelength through me...but you don't know how to resonate?" Shun asked, hoping it was some sort of joke. Rhya laughed nervously.

"Well, um, no." She repeated. Shun sighed, almost irritated, then looked up.

"Here, I'll start. When you feel my soul wavelength, add part of yours to it and send it back to me. Its like channeling your wavelength to me." Shun explained. Rhya nodded nervously as Kaido dashed forward. Rhya squeaked, just barely blocking with the bo as Kaido lunged at her. One hand had sparks flying on it from the metal, but the other hand came up and swiped at Rhya. Luckily, it only caught the edge of her jacket, but Rhya was beginning to panic.

Your soul will be mine...

Suddenly she could feel Shun's soul wavelength, calmly wrapping around her soul. Immediately, without thinking, she added her own and sent it back at him. Soon, they were doing this repeatedly, the mass of power growing between them.

"Soul Resonance!"

A wave of energy emitted from the two of them, causing Kaido to fly back. He grunted, landing on his hands and jumping back up. He flew back at Rhya, his hand outstretched. His knives were once again sparking against the bo.

"Eins, zwei, drei."

Kaido's eyes widened as he jumped back, panic and confusion on his face.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. "Why haven't you resonated? Why is your bo still normal?" Rhya's face calmed, and she smiled, spinning Shun around gently.

"C'mon, its no fun if I tell you everything." Rhya taunted. Kaido growled, walking around Rhya, stalking like a cat. Suddenly, Rhya lunged at him, giving him only a split second to guard.

"Vier, funf, sechs."

"What the hell are you doing?" Kaido demanded, slashing with his other hand. The sparks flew on the bo as he attempted to overpower Rhya.

"Sieben, acht, neun,"

"Kaido, stop!" Scar exclaimed frantically. "Somethings not right!" Kaido looked at Scar, but a split second too late. Rhya spun the bo, causing Kaido's hands to become tangled with the flow of the bo, the two gloves separating from his hands and flying off as Kaido landed right on his ass.

"Zehn."

Scarlett landed in her weapon form, but it took her no time to transform into a human, running over to Kaido in panic.

"Kaido!" she exclaimed. Kaido groaned, starting to sit up. Scar looked at Rhya frantically, almost crazed. "What the hell did you do?" Rhya breathed heavily, falling to her knees.

"I think...I think I just sealed off your soul." Rhya muttered. Scarlett looked at her confused, almost furious, when Maka stepped in, squealing to herself.

"Oh my god, this is exciting!" Maka exclaimed. "I saw the whole thing. Don't worry, nothing is wrong with you or Kaido as far as I can see. But from what I saw, Rhya's Soul Resonance forces the bearer of ten blows to undergo soul protect." Rhya, Kaido, and Scarlett's eyes all widened.

"Soul Protect? The thing that witches use?" Scarlett panicked. "So...does that mean Rhya's a witch?" Maka shook her head.

"No, Rhya's not a witch." Maka replied. "That's just the ability of her soul resonance. When a soul's under soul protect, it can't use anything soul related. In the case of witches, they can't use their magic. In the case of meisters, however, it seems they can't use their weapon." Scarlett's eyes widened in panic.

"Can't use their weapons?" Scarlett exclaimed. "So I can't be Kaido's weapon? Or ANYONE'S weapon?" Maka looked over to Rhya. Rhya nodded. Although she had no idea what the soul resonance did, or what exactly its meaning meant, she knew how to reverse it. She stood up, slowly walked up to Scarlett, and rested the bo on her shoulder.

"Null." She whispered. Suddenly, it felt like a lid was lifted off Scarlett's soul. The soul protect was nullified.

"Ah! That's how to do it." Maka exclaimed. Scar looked over at Rhya, almost rabidly.

"You...you..." Scar muttered. Suddenly Kaido's arm wrapped around her shoulder. Scar's eyes widened as she looked over at Kaido. Despite his jaw being severely bruised, he was smiling.

"Calm down Scar." Kaido cooed. "You have to admit, this was fun. Its been awhile since we've had a fight like this." Scarlett began to protest, but she slumped down in defeat, pouting a bit.

"Bu..but..." she muttered. Kaido laughed and shook his head, looking up at Rhya.

"And...I'm pretty sure you'll want to visit the infirmary." Kaido remarked. Rhya blinked, realizing that blood was still pouring out of the small gash on her head. Kaido then looked at Scar again. "While we're there, Scar here can keep her word and tell you the story about her eyes." Scar blinked and looked up.

"Oh yeah...I totally forgot thats why we were fighting." Scar muttered. Rhya laughed, starting to sway. Shun quickly transformed out of weapon form, gently holding her up.

"I think we should take you up on that infirmary offer first.." Shun started. Kaido laughed a bit, Scar gently helping him up. Scar looked at Rhya seriously, then smiled.

"I have to admit, that was impressive." Scar replied. She held out her hand, calm and collected. "Good match?" Rhya blinked, confused for a moment, then took Scars hand. They shook hands as Kaido smirked.

"Welcome to the Spartoi, Rhya."

"Holy fudge buckets of magical testicles, this hurts..." Rhya groaned, grabbing onto her head. Shun gave out a dry laughed, patting down her hair.

"You'll be ok in a couple days. But until then, we're not getting into any more fights." Shun declared, standing up from his chair. Rhya pouted as he walked to the sink.

"But I finally learned how to resonate..." Rhya murmured. Scar blinked in astonishment.

"That was your first time resonating souls?" Scarlett asked, leaning forward in interest. Rhya bit her cheek and nodded.

"It just never really clicked with me." She replied, hugging her legs. Scar's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Wow. I never thought someone could get a soul resonance down that perfectly on the first try." Scar uttered in awe. Kaido closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Shun returned with a glass of water, handing it to Rhya.

"So, will you tell us about your eyes?" Shun asked calmly. Scarlett's face suddenly turned solemn, and she held her hands together in her lap.

"W-well I don't remember much, but I'll explain what I can." Scar whispered. Rhya and Shun's faces turned serious, no touch of playfullness touching them. Scar nodded and began.

"I don't remember much. I have amnesia about my past. But from as early as I can remember, all I can remember is torture. Torture was my life. Torture for breakfast, torture for lunch, torture for dinner, and if I was unlucky, I would also have bursts of insanity visit me, dragging me into the darkest descent of madness.. I know for a fact that my parents died to an attack by a keishan. I don't remember how it happened, or when, but I just know that it happened. A group of people would torture me and ask me about my family, if any of them were witches, if they had weapon blood, and various things like that. They also asked some strange things too, but I can't remember..." Scar paused, holding her hand to her head, her eyes open, as if searching for the memories she had lost. She bit the inside of her cheek, then continued.

"You get the point. She was tortured." Kaido concluded, turning over in his bead. Scar blinked and looked at him, a little shocked. She shook her head, then turned back to Rhya and Shun.

"Like Kaido said, I was tortured. During the torture process, I lost my left eye." Scar said, showing them her deep purple eye. "But fortunately, Kaido here rescued me and brought me to Shibusen. Here, a man by the name of Stein managed to recreate a glass eye for me. He got the color wrong, but I don't mind. And...that's the story about my eyes." Scar shrugged a bit, trying to act nonchalant. Rhya looked down.

"That must've been terrible." Rhya murmured. Scar gave a sad smile and shrugged.

"Its whatever. That's not my life now." Scar replied. She blinked, then smiled widely. "Oh, I've totally forgot!" Scarlett ran over to her bag, opened it, fumbled around with it and returned with a small patch of the former Shinigami-sama's skull mask. Rhya blinked.

"What's that?" Rhya asked. Scar smiled, handing it to Rhya.

"That's your Spartoi badge." Scar explained. "You see, to enter the Spartoi, we have decided that the person should beat me in battle. Since we tend to be secret, we use the lure of my eyes to recruit people." Scar smiled, but Rhya and Shun merely sat there, stumped.

"But...what IS the Spartoi?" Rhya asked.

"The Sparoi is a group of Shibusen students whose main focus is to suppress witches and the kishin." A voice replied. Everyone turned around, to see Ran again, standing in the doorway. She looked over at Scarlett.

"I assume she beat you?" Ran asked, stepping into the room. Scarlett nodded obediently, showing her the patch.

"I was just about to give her the patch." Scar reported. Ran nodded, then looked over at Rhya.

"So, you're the new girl." She murmured. Rhya nodded seriously, looking Ran in the eye.

Ran shrugged, leaning on the side of the bed frame.

"Well, if you're going to join the Spartoi, you should know some things first." Ran determined. "First off, we are a completely private organization. No one knows about this. Not even the teachers. Although some of the teachers were part of the original Spartoi, like Soul and Maka, and even Death the Kidd, it was disbanded after the Kishin was disposed of. We have reinstated the Spartoi, however, to investigate the growing sense of madness that is seeping through the world." Rhya blinked.

"Growing madness? How do you know that the madness is growing?" Rhya asked, looking up at Ran in disbelief. Ran stood up, crossing her arms.

"For starters, one thing we learn at Shibusen is that people not on Kidd-sama's list are not to be killed." Ran explained. "That is because the people on Kidd-sama's list have succumbed to madness. So, it's only logical that the more madness there is in the world, the more people will be put on the list." Ran looked at Rhya from the corner of her eye, then continued explaining. "You've just got here, but for the people who've been here for a long time, there are more people than ever on Kidd-sama's list. We know for a fact that Kidd-sama, Evans, and the others at their level know about it. However, I don't think they know exactly how severe the madness is getting." Ran pointed to Scarlett. "Scar was tortured after her family was killed by the kishin. Although the kishin has been suppressed for years, and I'm sure its not a kishin, but whatever it was, it was well on its way to becoming one. You don't know him, but my partner, Keiran, his eyesight was taken away by the exact same group of people that tortured Scar. But they weren't as merciful. Each day, they'd scratch at his eye with a knife, slowly, painfully, laughing like maniacs as they did so." Ran bit her lip, gripping her hands into fists. "This is just a theory, but we have done some research over the last couple of years. There were reports of a clown that was weak after the first rise of Asura. He found residence in a man's body. The man went so mad, he scratched his very eyes out. We have almost undeniable proof that this man is the one who's recreating madness in the world."

"Wait, you don't mean the Mad Hatter, do you?" Rhya asked. Everyone suddenly looked at her, their eyes wide and confused. Rhya cleared her throat, and began to speak.

"The Mad Hatter was a story that the L.O.A loved to use. The story was about the very man who was pocessed by a clown. He went mad, scratched his eyes out, but here's the odd thing. He didn't try to eat people's souls. He merely tried to spread the madness that the clown had somehow produce. So really, he didn't try to hurt anyone, he just wanted everybody to be crazy with him." Rhya explained. "He was still killed on the spot, but the L.O.A used it as an example about what was right and wrong when it came to the madness. That the evil didn't have to come from violence." Ran nodded. Suddenly her eyes widened. "That witch...Ravenna...Her lacky said something about the Hatter! And using Chrona to get him!" Ran's eyes widened as everyone stared in disbelief.

"We just had a mission at the Witch's meeting yesterday night." Scarlett muttered. "That witch convinced Mabaa-sama to call off the death warrant for Chrona." Rhya bit her lip.

"Shit, this isn't good." Rhya mumbled. "We were training at the park and she came by. They were talking about how dumb the witches were for buying into the whole 'Chrona has amnesia' trick." Ran kicked the wall hard, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.

"That fucking witch!" Ran hissed. "She's not going to get away that easily." Ran walked to the doorway, addressing Scar and Kaido as she left. "Make sure you talk to Demetris. Meeting tonight, Julia's house. 11 sharp." Scar nodded, flipping out her cell phone. Rhya held her hand up.

"Wait, wait, wait a second!" Rhya exclaimed. Ran turned to her, her sharp blue eyes locked onto hers.

"Yes, Rhya?" Ran asked. Rhya bit her lip.

"What can I do to help?" Rhya asked. Shun made a shhing noise, but Ran merely smirked.

"Just show up to the meeting tonight. We'll explain everything then." Ran confirmed. "Welcome to the Spartoi, Aoyama."

Note from Undead Otaku: My only note-my back hurts from typing so long. Goooooood fudge buckets. No more staying up till 3 in the mornign typing.

Anywho, this is the start of the story! I'll be sure to submit at least one chapter a week, if not more. Please check in just to make sure when one comes in! Thank you all so much for reading.


	5. The Meeting

"What the hell were you thinking?" Shun exclaimed as Ran left the room. Rhya jumped, staring at her partner. His face wasn't angry, but his face was full of concern. Rhya touched her pointer fingers together nervously.

"I…um…" Rhya stammered. "It was kinda just a split minute decision." Shun stared at Rhya long and hard, then gently sighed.

"Please discuss it with me first next time.." Shun muttered. "Or at least inform me. We're a team now. Where you go, I go." He gently took her hand, holding it n the way men do to show brotherhood. But Rhya still blushed a bit, taking her hand back quickly. Shun blushed a bit in return, but quickly turned his head away.

"Well, if you want, I can tell you some stuff." Scar chirped. The two looked at her, suddenly realizing Scar and Kaido were still in the room. Rhya blinked, then shook her head clear.

"Well, I know from my studies that the Spartoi was made up of a group of 6 weapon and tech teams after Arachne was defeated to eliminate the Kishin," Rhya began. "But what confuses me is how the Spartoi are now an undercover organization and its goal is…?"

"Oh, this one's simple," Scar remarked. "After the Kishin was destroyed, the Spartoi was disbanded. Well, you see, Ran's mother and father, Tsubaki and Black Star, were a team in the Spartoi. Black Star disappeared years ago, God knows why, but Tsubaki told Ran about their adventures together and what the Spartoi was like. At first, Ran restarted it just to be a secret club. But when I joined, Ran noticed a connection between our eyes, and decided to dedicate the Spartoi in figuring out the cause of that, and all the madness going around lately." Rhya's eyes widened.

"Wait, Black Star? We saw him yesterday at the park following that witch!" Rhya exclaimed. Scar's light expressing fell dark.

"You're kidding…" Scar muttered. Rhya shook her head gently. Scar bit her lip, leaning back in her chair.

"Everywhere we go, Black Star follows…" Scar muttered. "It can't be a good sign."

"Will you all PLEASE shut up, for the love of god!" Kaido groaned. "I just want to sleep to quiet my stomach, and your infernal yapping isn't helping." Scar's eyes widened suddenly as she jumped up and looked at Kaido.

"I'm so sorry!" Scar exclaimed. "I promise, we'll quiet down. Is there anything else you want? Water? Ice? Ice cream?"

"I'd LIKE some damned sleep!" Kaido snapped impatiently. Scar jumped, bit her lip again, and slowly walked towards the door, ready to leave her partner to sleep. Rhya watched her as she quietly neared the door.

"Hey, Scar." Rhya whispered, quietly enough so Kaido could sleep. Scar stopped and looked over at Rhya, almost surprised.

_What are you doing? _Her brain exclaimed.

**She'll laugh at you, make fun of you, maybe even sneer at you. Why on Earth would ANYONE want to be around YOU? You pathetic little-**

Rhya shook her head wildly, trying to shut out the madness in her head. Scar still stood there, almost confused, when Rhya spoke again.

"Um… would you want to stay at my place tonight after the meeting?" Rhya asked. Suddenly, the madness reacted, screaming and raging, its threads tightening around her very soul.

**She'll laugh**

** You're so stupid!**

** What makes you so special?**

** Pathetic little weakling**

** Why don't you just shut up?**

** Go die**

** Go die**

** GO DIE-**

"Only if you want to!" Rhya squeaked quickly. "I mean, you just met me, so I understand if you don't want to…" Slowly, the madness released its grip on her soul, the panic she had just felt melting away, leaving her breathless, shaking, and exhausted. She gave a small sigh of relief.

"Well, I was actually going over to Myrady's place tonight, but I could stay over tomorrow if you have time." Scar replied. Rhya smiled nervously.

"That works." Rhya chirped quietly. Scar smiled, her mood obviously uplifted, as she steadily left the room. As soon as she left, Rhya collapsed on her bed, shaking wildly. Shun looked at her, almost panicked.

"Rhya, are you ok?" Shun exclaimed quietly, grabbing her shoulder. . Rhya closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and nodded.

"I'm ok… I just got a little panicked… the madness…" Rhya muttered as she neared the edge of sleep. It called to her gently, promising to save her from the madness, to keep her safe until it left. Sleep always calmed the madness. Even though her dreams were crazy at the same time.

"The what?" Shun asked urgently. Rhya gave a small smile.

"I'd like to sleep now, if that's ok…" Rhya muttered. Shun nodded slowly, but Rhya didn't notice. Shun slowly dropped his hand from her shoulder. As Rhya began to fall asleep, Shun sighed, staring at her sleeping face.

_Rhya…_ he thought, remembering the expression of panic and pain on her face_. I hope one day you'll trust me with your secret._

Rhya stood alone in the darkness, nothing to be seen or heard. Rhya sighed. It only took a few minutes for the black to become invaded with colors and objects and many confusing events, like EVERY dream. She sat down, waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, things began to float through her consciousness. First it was Gin eating a possum, very delicious. Then it was Shun ballroom dancing with a hedgehog. Then it was Ran, only for some reason her hair was down and she had breasts the size of watermelons.

_WTF brain?_ Rhya snapped. _I have nothing against lesbians, but you know I don't roll that way. _The images suddenly disappeared in a whisp of smoke, leaving only one lone figure, a man with shaggy black hair hanging down from his eyes, and torn clothing all over his body. As he looked up at her, his sharp silver irises looked into her eyes. Rhya's calm face turned into one of panic, suddenly scrambling to stand up.

"Az-Az-Azreal?" Rhya stammered. "But how! The League said you'd died, you died against a battle with a witch, and they even brought your body back! How…HOW?" Rhya's hands tripped over themselves as she tried to scramble away, only leaving her collapsed against the black floor. Azreal walked up to her, standing over her defenseless body to prevent an escape.

"Big sis, I've found you!" Azreal exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "This'll be great, now the Lady shall be most pleased that I've found you, and we can be together, just like old times!" Rhya gulped repeatedly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Azreal, I… You can't be real. You've died. You've been dead for years. You can't be here, you CAN'T BE-"

"Its ok, sis," Azreal cooed softly. "The lady won't kill you. She's very kind. She opened my eyes. That's why I haven't been back to the league. She's had a special eye on you. She likes you, Rhya, she likes you a lot. If I bring you back, Ravenna will be most pleased-"

"RAVENNA?" Rhya yelled. Rhya's sudden outburst caused Azreal to trip backwards, allowing Rhya to stand up. She placed a foot on his chest, keeping him down, and leaned down to his face. "Azreal, you dirty piece of shit, I don't know what you think you're doing, or even if you're real, but you better tell me this is all a big joke or I'll-"

"You won't do anything," Rhya's voice said. Rhya's eyes widened as she looked up into the blackness. There stood a girl who looked exactly like her, except her clothes were black, her coat was blood red, and her hair was a deep gray. Where her eyes used to be, only scribbled in circles remained, and her smile was long and toothy.

"Who are you?" Rhya exclaimed, backing away from Azreal and the girl as she neared. Azreal slowly stood up, the girl stopping right next to him. She smiled, holding her arms out to Rhya.

"I'm you, of course!" She exclaimed. "I'm your madness." Her smile widened larger, her teeth growing larger. "The madness is strengthening. If I can swallow your soul, the Hatter will be most pleased…He'll take me as his wife, maybe, and I'd have everything I've ever wanted, everything!" The madness began to spin around in circles, Azreal smiling as she spun. Rhya's eyes widened as she stopped and looked back at her.

"It'll only be a matter of time, you little piece of shit~" the madness chirped sweetly, licking her lips. "Your soul will taste so sweet. And then nothing but madness will remain, and the lady and the hatter will award us both for our efforts-"

"You dumb cunt!" Rhya shouted. "Azreal's dead! He's been dead for 5 years! Like I'd fall for a stupid trick like that-"

Suddenly Azreal was in front of Rhya, gripping onto her throat and raising her off the ground. Rhya began to scream, only to have it cut off from lack of air.

_This is just a dream, its just a dream, I won't die, how can you die in a dream? _Rhya tried to console herself. But as she stayed airborne, the more she noticed that she couldn't breathe. She choked, pulling on Azreal's hands frantically. Suddenly Azreal dropped her, and she crashed to the ground, choking for air.

"Do you like that little trick?" Azreal asked. "Lady Ravenna showed it to me. I can access your soul from the threads on it. Now I can kill you at a moment's notice." Azreal grinned evilly. "I love you, big sis, but I won't hesitate to kill you if it pleases the lady." Rhya choked for air, tears streaming down her eyes. She looked up at the man who had been her brother for years. Slowly, she blinked, turning on her frail soul perception.

Azreal's soul was there-It wasn't an illusion. Azreal was alive. Rhya almost laughed in disbelief and happiness. However, that happiness was cut short as two talons encompassed his soul, black fog emitting from its claws. Azreal suddenly kicked Rhya hard in the face, causing her soul perception to suddenly shut off. Rhya coughed in pain, trying to keep herself up.

"I thought I knew you better, Rhya." Azreal muttered. "You were never rude enough to look at a person's soul without permission." Rhya choked again, trying to drown out the panic that was encompassing her. Slowly her madness walked up towards her, pulling her up in the air by her pony tail. This time it didn't hurt, but Rhya still groaned in pain.

"We'll let you go… for now," The madness chimed. "Besides, if we let you live now, the madness that you'll emit once you do become consumed will be so much richer." The madness giggled, throwing her off to the side. "Az, you should go report now. I'll stay with her~" Azreal nodded, a dumb smile creeping his face, as he disappeared in a whisp of smoke. The madness laughed loudly as Rhya struggled to wake up.

_Wake up…Wake up…WAKE UP!_

"Rhya! Rhya, wake up! Wake up!" Shun exclaimed. Rhya's eyes suddenly shot open, her breath pained and stressed. Shun sighed in relief, still panting from panic.  
"Rhya, are you ok? You were shaking, like you were having a seizure, and you stopped breathing for a while." Shun asked. Rhya looked slowly at Shun, still panting. His eyes were wide, and his face was almost that of an adorable puppy. Rhya groaned internally. _He's doing the puppy dog eyes. He's worried about me enough to do the puppy dog eyes. God, why have you forsaken me?_  
"I'm fine… It's all good…" Rhya soothed, trying to sit up. Shun grabbed onto her shoulder with one hand and wrapped other arm around her back to support her.  
"Bull sharks you're fine," Shun snapped. "Rhya, you stopped breathing. You were shaking like crazy. If nothing else, you at least had a terrible nightmare. Why won't you tell me anything?" Rhya looked at her partner in a daze. He looked serious. He was serious. He was her partner now, she had to give her trust to him. Rhya blinked a couple times and looked up. Kaido stood at the foot of the bed, putting on his white T-Shirt. Rhya's eyes widened.  
_Shit, shit, SHIT! Kaido has soul perception. He was bound to see the madness react. He must know now. Shit! _Rhya panicked. Instead, Kaido just looked at Rhya, nodded to her, and walked out the door, as if nothing had happened. Rhya sighed a bit in relief. _He's not going to rat me out. He's going to keep my secret safe. Thank god…_  
"Rhya," Shun repeated. Rhya spun her head to Shun, completely forgetting that he was there. "I'm waiting for an answer." Rhya bit her lip. She spoke too soon. Shun was still there.  
"Well… It's kind of hard to explain…" Rhya muttered, scratching the back of her head. Shun glared at her, leaning closer. Rhya's face began to get red, as she looked around the room. Her eyes crossed over a clock, reading 7:45.  
"Shit! We're going to be late!" Rhya exclaimed, jumping out of the infirmary bed. Shun let go of her reluctantly, staring up at her. As Rhya hurriedly put on her knee high boots, Shun walked around the bed, standing in front of Rhya's path.  
"You WILL tell me, Rhya." Shun repeated. "Not as your partner, but as your friend." Rhya froze, and looked up at Shun. His angry expression was gone, covered only in an expression of worry now. Rhya bit her lip, looking down. Her secret, the secret she tried so hard to hide, the one thing she gave up everything for…She can't repeat her mistakes. She wouldn't start over again.  
"Ok," She uttered quietly. "I'll tell you after the meeting. You can come over, and I'll tell you everything." The madness gently gripped her soul, not tight enough to choke her but enough to make her ache. Shun nodded calmly, holding his hand out. Rhya slowly took it as Shun brought her to her feet. Rhya looked in his brown eyes, so bland and uninteresting, but somehow found hope. Rhya blushed as she suddenly looked away.  
_Ok, Rhya, you'll tell him your secret. That's the first step._ She told herself. _Don't start getting ahead of yourself and fall in love._  
**Yeah, you're right, **her madness chimed quietly. **After all, why would he want to have a piece of crap like you for a girlfriend anyway?**

Rhya and Shun made it to Julia's right at the stroke of 8, with the yellow moon laughing over their rush. Rhya knocked gently on the door, panting as if she had just ran a mile. As soon as the door opened, the odor of cat hair and dog breath flooded out, with Julia standing there with three dogs- A German shepard, a border collie, and a Papillion.  
"Oh, hey." Julia greeted, holding back the border collie with her leg. "I hope you aren't allergic to animals. I have these three and 2 cats." Shun's face went blank with astonishment, but Rhya merely shook her head.  
"Nope, I'm good. I have a fox at home." Rhya replied, walking into the house. Julia's face filled with astonishment as the German Shepard decided to do a thorough investigation of Shun's crotch.  
"You have a fox? Aren't those wild?" Julia implored, following close behind Rhya as she walked into the room.  
"Guys, a little help here, I think the German Shepard has the hots for me."  
"Not Gintsuki." Rhya replied, ignoring Shun's request for help. "A group of Russians did an experiment with domestication, and they produced some domestic foxes. Just be careful when you're cooking meat and make sure you give him a piece." Shun started to whine, pushing back the dog's relentless attempts to hump Shun's leg. Julia snapped.  
"Jackal! Down!" Julia commanded. The dog lowered his ears and jumped down, slowly walking away. Julia sighed, gently petting the dog's head as he walked past.  
"So, shall we get this meeting started?" A new voice inquired. Rhya turned around and saw a fairly tan girl with raven black hair, with pitch-black sun glasses over her eyes. She wore cargo pants without shoes, and she was leaning in a chair, suspended on its back legs.  
"That sounds like a good idea, I think." Another voice replied. The new voice came from the man sitting next to the girl, a man with shaggy blonde hair in a ponytail.  
"Oh, Rhya, this is Demi and Haley." Julia introduced, pointing her hand at the respective persons. "Demi is the girl, Haley is the boy. They go to Shibusen, but they haven't been there since you've came since they were on a mission."  
"We got nothin'." Demi groaned, setting her chair back on the ground. "Romania's clean-no trace of madness. Not a drop." Julia sighed, scratching the back of her neck.  
"Myrady could've sworn that there'd be something in Romania," Julia muttered.  
"That said, where is Myrady?" Haley asked. "She's never once been to theses meetings."  
"Oh, she thinks we're a bit full of ourselves with this." Julia replied. "She's just in it for the witch hunting." Haley rolled his eyes as Scar entered the room.  
"Hey Rhya, glad you could make it." Scar chirped, sitting on Julia's giant sofa, two cats sitting peacefully on its back. Rhya's eyes widened. There sat the fluffiest cat she had ever seen, and it wasn't ugly enough to be a Persian.  
"C'mere, kitteh…" Rhya muttered. "I'm gonna hug you…" Suddenly Rhya scooped up the cat, ignoring its flailing attempts to escape. She flipped him on his back and gently started to pet his belly as the cat groaned in torture.  
"Oi, not Jynx! Oh man…" Julia muttered. Rhya continued to pet the kitty, utterly contempt, when Ran walked into the room.  
"Ok, here's the deal." Ran directed. Suddenly the room fell silent, its inhabitants only daring to breathe. Rhya looked around to see who was all there. There was Scar and Kaido, sitting on the couch, while Demi and Haley were sitting at the dinner table. Julia was standing next to her, and Shun was now fending off the Papillon. The only person she didn't recognize was the white hair boy next to Ran, with sharp emerald fore arm guards on. They looked like a team- modern ninjas.  
"Someone's found Chrona. A witch named Ravenna." Ran mandated while she crossed her arms. "This witch has fooled the entire witch community that Chrona has amnesia, when in truth she doesn't. She has a plan to use Chrona, and we believe that plan is to revive the Mad Hatter." Everybody began to sneer a bit, their faces twisted with disgust. "We need to formulate a game plan. Demi, what was your analysis on Romania?"  
"No trace of madness, unfortunately." Demi conceited. "However, when we were leaving, we did sense something odd in the Czech Republic." Ran sneered. "The Czech always have something to hide, it seems." Ran muttered. "Anything else?"  
"I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I could've sworn I felt the presence of a witch in Germany." Demi reported, resting a hand on her forehead. "The fact that I'm not entirely sure bothers me, but if it's a witch we can't just ignore it. We should find out if that witch is related to the madness."  
"Well, did you feel any madness in Germany?" Ran asked. "If you did, then its safe to assume that the witch is related to it."  
"There is PLENTY of madness in Germany." Rhya muttered under her breath. They all looked at her, slightly confused. After they remembered Rhya used to attend the L.O.A, they relaxed.  
"Ok, this Friday, me, Demi and Kaido will head to Germany to investigate. It's safe to assume that Keiran, Haley, and Scar will come with us." Ran instructed, pointing at the Kaido and Demi. They both nodded, not looking to worried. Ran then turned to Rhya, giving her a quizzical look.

"I think Rhya should go, too." Ran said suddenly. Kaido and Demi raised their heads, looking at Rhya. Rhya shivered a bit as Ran continued. "She used to live in the area. I'm sure she's had plenty of experience with the madness, and it'll give her a chance to get to know the Spartoi better." Demi nodded in agreement, when Scarlett suddenly shouted out.

"It sounds like a good idea to me," she remarked. "If anything, we can break up into two separate groups- you and Demi and Kaido and Rhya." Ran nodded, then looked back at Rhya. Rhya's throat suddenly went dry.

"Uh…sure." Rhya replied nervously. Ran smiled and nodded, turning to Demi and Haley.

"Well, me and Keiran are gonna get going now. I heard that Me, Myself, and Irene was on TV. And, you know how I get when it comes to advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage..." Ran laughed a bit, and Demi smiled.

"Sure thing. I'm sure I can wrap everything up from here." Demi replied. Ran nodded, slowly walking out the door. Keiran followed her, the ever silent time he was. As soon as the door closed behind them, Demi stood up, and addressed the room.

"Ok, look." Demi said loud enough for everyone to hear. "We DID find something in Romania. Something terrible. It could very well hold the answer to the madness thus far. However, both me and Haley are under the agreement that it's something far too advance for us alone. We need to inform Kidd-sama about this right away, and get this…THING… destroyed, as soon as we can."

"That shouldn't be a problem," a voice chuckled. Suddenly everyone's eyes shot towards the front door. There stood a man with electric blue hair, holding both Ran and Keiran by the arms, despite their struggles. He gave a cocky grin to the room.

"Hey," Black Star greeted. "Bet you didn't think a big star like me would show up, did you?"

Note from UndeadxXxOtaku- CHAPTER 5 IS COMPLETED! Anywho, I have an announcement. As some of you may know, I only write fan fictions on my spare time (or when I'm in the mood). The other times, I like to draw. Well, I thought it'd be super awesome to draw all the OC's in the fan fic. Hyeah. It's up on deviantart now, under undeadxXxotaku. I just uploaded it, so it should still be in the 'recent uploads' area. I will later draw the other characters, like Ravenna, Draco, and the older versions of the Soul Eater characters at a later date.

I hope you enjoyed Chapter 5 =D


	6. Capture

Everyone was silent by Black Star's sudden appearance. The only noise was from Ran and Keiran, trying to break away from Black Star's grasp. He looked around the room, uninterested.  
"Not much of a headquarters, is this?" he mumbled. Jackal snarled in the background, standing in front of Julia defensively. Black Star disregarded him, and looked at Rhya.  
"Good to see you're making friends already," Black Star said warmly. "But I'm thinking you're making friends with the wrong crowd." Rhya looked at Black Star, shocked. How did he know she was new? Ran sneered, looking to Keiran.  
"Keiran, fan mode." She ordered. Keiran nodded obediently, transforming in a flash of light. Ran caught him in midair and in one fluid motion snapped the fan closed and smashed the end of it into Black Star's nose. He let go in shock, giving Ran the opportunity to escape.  
"Everyone, transform your weapons!" Ran barked. "We can't let him win." Haley wasted no time, transforming into a bow. Demi caught him, and swung him up into position, drawing back the string to reveal an arrow of sharp green soul wavelength. Kaido stood up, uninterested, as Scar transformed into gloves, fitting perfectly on Kaido's hands. Rhya looked over at Shun, nervously. Although he was just as unsure as she was, he held Rhya's hand, transforming into the bo. Black Star stared at them all and laughed.  
"You honestly think you can win this fight?" Black Star asked, cracking his knuckles. "I'm a bushin. Its time you really learned who I am."  
Black Star was gone in a split second. Everyone looked around, suddenly on guard. Jackal gave a low growl. Suddenly, Demi gave a cry of shock. Everyone spun around to see Black Star, standing calmly behind her, as she crashed to the floor. Haley transformed out of his bow form, just as unconscious.  
"What the hell?" Ran exclaimed. Suddenly Black Star disappeared again, this time appearing between Kaido and Julia. Without warning his arms shot out, hitting the two in the stomach with his palms. Electricity shot through his hands, and all three of them fell to the ground, unconscious.  
"He's using his soul wavelength to attack," Rhya breathed nervously. Black Star looked up at Ran, ready to attack.  
"Chain Sickle mode!" Ran called. Keiran morphed, and Ran held out a chain with a sickle attached, its blade as black as night. As Black Star lunged at her, his fist out to attack, Ran stretched the chain apart, causing his fist to get caught on the chain. Black Stars eyes were wide in shock and anger.'  
"You…" he growled. He gripped onto the chain, pulling away it away. Ran gripped onto the sickle and the other end of the chain defiantly. "You stole Tsubaki's ability. You're the reason why she can't fight anymore." Ran looked up at Black Star defiantly.  
"Who the hell do you think I am?" Ran exclaimed. Black Star scowled.  
"I don't care who the hell you are." He snarled. "But you'll pay for what you did to Tsubaki." In a split second Black Star lunged and chopped Ran in the neck, forcing her unconscious. Rhya screamed as Ran fell to the ground, leaving her the only one standing. Black Star looked at her, a hurt, dark look in his eyes.  
"Don't you realize what you just did?" Rhya exclaimed, switching to a guarding position with her bo. "Why the hell are you doing this?"  
"Orders are orders," Black Star replied.  
The next second, all Rhya could see was black.

Rhya's eyes shot open, her heart pounding. Cold sweat dripped from her forehead as she shook in fear.  
_ Black Star…_ she thought. Black Star was here. He had knocked everyone out. He was under orders to capture everyone.  
As soon as she realized this she sat up in shock. She looked around panicked, trying to realize where she was. Was she at some weird hideout for ninja's? Was she at Chupa Cabra's, the supposed witch hide out? The reality was less climatic, as she soon realized she was sitting strait up, in white pajamas in Shibusen's infirmary.  
_ How…? _She asked herself, eyes wide in terror and shock. _This can't be right. Black Star CAPTURED us…_  
"Oh good, you're awake." A voice chirped. Rhya looked over to see Blair, the cat, in a sexy nurse's uniform. Rhya sighed at Blair's less than appropriate appearance, but was at least glad that she knew someone normal.  
"Blair, thank god," Rhya breathed. "What happened? Why am I here?" Blair smiled.  
"After Ran kinda ticked Black Star off, he forgot to check how much soul energy he was attacking you with." Blair explained. "So, you got the rough end of the beating and were knocked into a coma." Blair smiled innocently, fiddling with the papers on the nurse's desk. Rhya's eyes widened.  
"A COMA?" Rhya exclaimed. "What the… HOW? And how can you be so calm about Black Star? He's a criminal!" Blair stared at Rhya with the blankest face she could make.

"Black Star's a freelance meister for Shibusen," Blair remarked, carelessly. "I'm not sure if he's committed any human crimes, but I'm pretty sure he would've been eradicated by now if he was a criminal to Shibusen." Rhya stared at Blair in disbelief, not only from the fact that she said something remotely smart, but because she just said Black Star wasn't a criminal. Never was.

_What the hell is going on here...?_ Rhya stared at Blair for a moment longer, and heard a groan beside her. She looked over quickly and noticed Ran, covered in blankets with a rag on her head.

"Oh, her." Blair chirped a bit too upbeat. "Black Star accidentally hit a wrong nerve with his wavelength. She got a fever." Ran breathed slowly and deeply, indicating she was asleep. Rhya sighed and laid against the bed frame. She looked around, noticing Shun wasn't around. Good. He didn't get shocked like she did. She wondered how long she was asleep. She also wondered if Shun had come to visit her. A hopeful feeling started to flood through her. Shun visiting her... Shun showing that he cared about her...Shun...

**You're so weak. Shun probably just wanted to know if his lame excuse for a meister was awake yet, if he visited at all. God, why don't you just shut up? I'm tired of hearing your pathetic thoughts.**

The hopeful feeling turned to stone and dropped to the pit of Rhya's stomach. She bit her lip, looking away from Blair so she didn't notice her. Blair looked around for a moment, and sighed in boredom.

"Its no fun around here without Spirit-kun..." Blair pouted. "He's probably hanging out at Chupa Cabra's, that dirty old perv." Blair's pouty face quickly vanished into an evil grin. "I think I'll surprise him." She stood up abruptly, and in a poof of smoke she turned into a cat, dashing out of the room. Rhya sighed slightly in relief. Blair, the ditz. For that one lone moment, she was thankful that Blair was so impulsive. Rhya sat up, looking down at her chest. She's noticed it for a while now, the black wires around her soul. She had a theory about how they got there, but that didn't fix them from going away. And from what it seems, Azreal must have the black wires too, and that's how she entered her dream, from the connection between the wires. Rhya looked at her soul for a moment longer, pondering. If Azreal could connect to her soul, it'd only be logical if she could connect to his. She closed her eyes, focusing on the black wires around her soul. They pulsed with madness, threatening to send her into a decent of madness. She bit her lip as she sensed something, a soul, a soul with a silver black glow around it, with talons around it. And just as she suspected, wires. Thin wires, but wires none the less...

"Hey Soul!" A voice shouted. Rhya's concentration broke, leaving black splotches in her eyes while she could faintly see reality. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear them out, when she noticed Evans talking.

"Black Star, what are you doing here? We haven't seen you in years." Evans replied. Rhya stopped rubbing in a split second, focusing all of her effort on listening. "Oh, Kidd asked me to keep an eye on some witches." Black Star replied nonchalantly. "But on the way, I noticed some Shibusen students poking their nose into business that wasn't theirs. Kidd said for me to retrieve them."

"Shibusen students? What were they doing?" Evans asked.

"Well..." Black Star started. His tone suddenly changed from relaxed to concerned. "They were looking into the madness. They've figured out enough to discover the Hatter. And there was this one girl," Black Star's voice went tense and restrained. "Her weapon has Tsubaki's ability. She's the reason why Tsubaki can't fight. When she wakes up, I'll-"

"Wo, hold up now." Evans interrupted. "You mean Ran, don't you?"

"I don't care what her name is!" Black Star roared. Suddenly there was a loud crack, like a sound of an egg cracking.

"Are you a fucking dumbass?" Evans exclaimed. Black Star groaned.

"You PUNCHED me. Dude, I don't know what your deal is, but-"

"Listen here, Black Star. You leave without telling anyone, only showing your face maybe once in 8 years. That entire time, who was left to take care of Tsubaki? Who was there to help her raise her child?"

"What are you talking about?" Black Star growled. "Tsubaki doesn't have a kid. Hell, she hasn't had sex with anyone except-"

Black Star's voice caught. He kept trying to mutter something out, but nothing did, only weak sounds came from his mouth.

"S-soul... what are.. what are you saying?" Black Star exclaimed. "Tsubaki would've told me about something like that! There's no way!"

"Well, Black Star, she couldn't exactly contact you, could she?" Evans sneered. "You left. No one knew where you were. And suddenly, here she was with a brand new baby girl, with black hair and sharp blue eyes. There she was. With YOUR child!"

Evans voice echoed through Shibusen's halls. Neither of them spoke for a while. A LONG while. Rhya sat there, shaking all over.

_I shouldn't be listening to this,_ her internal voice whispered. _I shouldn't be. _

**Shut up already! Let's see what happens next!**

"That girl...Ran...she's..." Black Star stuttered. There was a loud thump, indicating that he had dropped to the floor. Evans sighed, as Black Star tried to regain himself.

"But if she's... How does her weapon have Tsubaki's ability? I mean, we've only did it once..." Black Star muttered.

"Well, Ran made a friend a long time ago. He was blind, and tortured. He was a demon weapon, a ninja fan. Ran took care of him, and he took care of her. She practiced with him constantly, which helped boost his self esteem. Tsubaki was glad that Ran had a connection with this boy, and decided since she was never going to have another child, she wanted to give her ability to the boy, so that way Ran always had a piece of her mother around, inside him." Evans explained. Everything was quiet again for another moment. Finally, Black Star spoke.

"Well...I guess.. I have some apologizing to do..." He muttered. Evans sighed, and with another noise of shifting, Black Star's boots clapped onto the pavement.

"Before that though, I think you should see your old partner," Evans replied, lightheartedly.

"Tsubaki's here?" Black Star exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, she was going to fill in as the school's nurse, since Blair isn't a very good replacement, but I'm sure she won't mind seeing you." Evans replied. As their footsteps furthered off, Rhya could hear one last mumble. "You know, for such a hot girl, you are so uncool."

Rhya sat there, listening to their footsteps farther away. Rhya closed her eyes and collapsed against her bed. After a few seconds of breathing, she heard something, something peculiar. She opened her eyes and looked over to her right, to see Ran's eyes wide open, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"He didn't even know I was alive," She muttered. "My own father. He left my mother. And he didn't even know..." Ran started to cry again, bringing her hands from under the covers to cover her eyes. Rhya stared at Ran, unsure whether to comfort her or to let her be.

**Let her sit there. You've had enough misery, and no one was there to help YOU out.**

_You know what, shut the hell up! _Rhya exclaimed. _I'm tired of your bullshit. Next time you interrupt, I will kill you. _The madness chuckled, but Rhya ignored her, stepping down from the infirmary bed and shuffling over to Ran. Slowly she leaned down and hugged her, causing Ran to cry more.

"What are you doing...?" Ran choked. "I don't need any of your pity!" Rhya gave out a short laugh.

"I'm not pitying you, Ran." Rhya muttered. "I'm being a friend."

Ran's voice caught, causing her to cry even more. Rhya sat by Ran's side for the rest of the day, comforting her lone friend, unprepared for what horrors awaited her.

NOTE FROM UNDEADXXXOTAKU- Holy cheese its, its taken me forever to write this! Luckily, school will be out soon, so I'll have nothing else to do but devote my time to this fan fic =D

For anyone who's curious, I'm expecting this fan fic to run for 13 chapters, so I'm not even half way done. It might take me a while, but I swear by Captain Kirk's nipples it shall be done!

Anywho, thank you for reading =)


	7. Deals

Rhya stood in the death room, along side Ran, Shun, and the others, looking up at Kidd-sama. He didn't look mad, but he didn't look too pleased either. Black Star leaned against the tall mirror, refusing to look at the band of misfits. Rhya looked at the others. After Rhya had woken up (and Evans had left with Black Star), Maka came in to explain everything to her. The others were fine. They had returned to classes like normal. However, they were under strict supervision, provided by the lovely Spirit-kun. Maka cringed when she delivered that bit of information, and I'm pretty sure she mumbled something about how Demi drop kicked him in the face when he tried to boob scoop her. The men didn't have to worry about his perverse antics, but apparently Stein decided to drop in as well, and Patty had to go retrieve Kaido after Stein tried to dissect him. Rhya was almost thankful that she was in a coma for a week, the hell that the others had to endure was so much worse than her own. But the moment Rhya and Ran were well enough to move about, Kidd-sama had summoned them to the death room. Not just them, though. Everyone was ordered to come.  
So, there stood Rhya, looking up at Kidd-sama. His arms were crossed, but one arm was straight up, two fingers against his cheek as he studied the group. Rhya looked nervously at the others. Myrady was even here, and she didn't end up attending the meeting. They must've known that she was part of the Spartoi. But then again, if they knew exactly where to send Black Star, they were bound to know everyone in the Spartoi. Kidd-sama cleared his throat, directing Rhya's attention to the front.  
"I'd like to say that firstly, I am unsure whether to be cross with you or praise you." Kidd-sama remarked, shifting his position. "On the one hand, you obeyed all of the school rules while taking charge of a situation that is soon to engulf our world, but on the other hand you put yourselves in mortal danger while lying to the very school you attend." Rhya shifted, a bit uneasy. Some of the others in the crowd looked guilty too. But the ones that didn't looked strong. Proud. Like just because Kidd-sama said it was wrong doesn't mean it is. They almost looked defiant.  
"So, why are we here? And why did you send your lackey to retrieve us?" Myrady sneered. Kidd-sama shot her a cold look with his sharp yellow eyes, but it left Myrady unfazed.  
"HEY! I ain't a lackey!" Black Star roared, his calm cool vibe gone. "I am the almighty BLACK STAR!"  
"Patty, will you shut him up?" Kidd-sama asked, waving his hand nonchalantly. Patty giggled, skipping over to Black Star. Two seconds later, Black Star's eyes had giant black rings around them, his eyes wide, as he plopped down to the ground, staring uninterested out into space. Kidd-sama shook his head, then looked back at the group.  
"You are here because Shibusen cannot afford 1 star weapon and tech pairs running around trying to solve a mystery that's bigger than all of you combined," Kidd-sama explained. "So, I gathered you here to make a deal. We, as in Shibusen's staff and I, will allow this makeshift Spartoi continue as long as you clear all your missions with me or one of the death scythes, and that you take along your designated 3 star meister or weapon with you." Everyone looked at Kidd-sama, considering his offer. The ones that looked guilty, like Rhya and Shun, immediately nodded at the proposal, but the others, like Ran and Kaido, shook their heads in disappointment.  
"So what you're saying is that we can keep doing what we're doing if we have a babysitter with us," Haley asked, crossing his arms.  
"No, not babysitter. More like a supervisor." Kidd-sama replied. "This said meister would help you with valuable points, such as group soul resonance and fighting techniques, as well as make sure the situation doesn't get out of hand. Besides that, the Spartoi is all yours."  
"So what if we decline your kind offer?" Ran snapped, her sharp blue eyes blazing from above her scarf. "The Spartoi have gotten along just fine without your help, and I'm sure as hell not going to take it now." Kidd-sama's kind expression turned cold, his yellow eyes turning electric. Sparks seemed to fly between the two, their gazes locked spot on.  
"If you decline…" Kidd-sama replied slowly. "The Spartoi will be disbanded and all of its members will be transferred to different schools." Ran jumped in shock, then bared her teeth in disgust.  
"That's not fair!" Scar shouted.  
"You can't do that!" Julia raged.  
"This is our group! You can't just take it from us!" Kaido shouted.  
"Wait guys, just shut up for a second!" Haley shouted. Everyone glowered at Haley, their eyes full of hostility.  
"So, you're just gonna give up, just like that?" Kaido asked, his voice full of venom. Haley glared at him.  
"Its not going to do any good bitching and moaning. Think logically about this!" Haley hissed. "We can gain valuable experience with teaming up with Shibusen. Yeah, we give up a lot of our freedom. But at least we still have some. We're in over our heads, guys. We'll get killed if we try to dive into this headfirst. If we team with Shibusen, we get stronger. We'll be smarter. We'll figure out what the fuck is going on! But who am I kidding? I forgot this was a group full of immature teenagers who want to play detective and end up killed."  
"What has gotten into you?" Demi yelled. Haley sighed and looked at his meister.  
"You've been thinking it, too." Haley muttered. "Remember, Romania?" Demi's face filled with shock, then she looked off to the side, reluctant to look at the group.  
"Wait, I thought there wasn't anything in Romania," Ran asked, glaring at the two. Suddenly her face filled with recognition, as her face turned venomous. "You-"  
"Ran! Calm your fucking tits." Keiran hissed quietly. Ran's eyes went wide in shock as she looked towards her partner.  
"She lied to us, Keiran!" Ran exclaimed. "And we can't just let the group die!"  
"It's not going to die," Keiran muttered. "Haley's right. At least we have the freedom to keep the Spartoi." Keiran straightened his posture, then walked up to Kidd-sama.  
"Keiran! Stop!" Ran exclaimed.  
"We take your deal," Keiran conceited, low and quiet enough that barely anyone could here. Kidd-sama smirked, nodded, then turned to Demi.  
"On that note, I'd like Demitris to come with me for a few questions." Kidd-sama responded. Demi's face remained blank, but she stepped up to Kidd-sama, Haley following close behind, as Keiran stepped back. Ran gave him a disgusted look, then turned away quickly, too enraged at her weapon to meet his eyes. As soon as Kidd turned around to lead Demi to a separate location, a knock on the door interrupted him.  
"Um...hello? Is anyone in here?" a meek voice asked. The entire room stood still as the door slowly slid open to reveal Tsubaki. Black Star broke out of his trance once she walked forward, while Kidd smiled and addressed her.  
"Hello, Tsubaki." Kidd greeted, putting his hands in his pockets. "It's been a while."  
"Not that long," Tsubaki replied, appearing a bit embarrassed. "I was here just a few months ago." Kidd shook his head lightheartedly.  
"You know what I mean," Kidd-sama remarked. Black Star stood up, slowly, cautiously, as if he was trying to catch the attention of a wild dear. Tsubaki's eye caught him, though, and her eyes widened in shock. Black Star froze, not completely straight, as Tsubaki rushed up onto the platform, pushing Kidd aside.  
They both stared at each other, completely silent. Their eyes could tell it all, though. Black Star's eyes was almost longing, as if he dreamed about this moment forever. Tsubaki's held the same gaze, only her's was in shock, completely shattering her meek, humble appearance.  
"Um...hey, Tsubaki..." Black Star muttered, not taking his eyes off her. Tsubaki started to breathe heavy.  
"So, you really are here..." Tsubaki replied. Her hands shook at her side, but no one knew if it was from happiness, anger, or a combination of the two. Black Star stared down at Tsubaki, his older body taller than his former weapon's. Tsubaki's hands slowly calmed, and she smiled warmly.  
"It's so good to see you again," Tsubaki murmured. Black Star laughed a bit, scratching behind his head.  
"Yeah, same here." Black Star replied. His face suddenly went to panic. "I mean it's really good to see you again! I don't mean its good to see me again! I see myself all the time, and I mean I look hot and all, but that's not the point, I mean you look as hot as ever too. Wait, what? I mean, for 32 years, your boobs are as perky as a school girls. Fuck! That's not what I meant to say! Just shut up, Black Star..."  
Tsubaki's face went slightly red but she swung her arms around Black Star none the less, and partially in shock Black Star caught her, but then he relaxed and hugged his old friend as if nothing could separate them. When he opened his eyes, there stood Ran in the background, her eyes boring into his skull, almost with intent to kill.  
"Um...Tsubaki." Black Star whispered in Tsubaki's ear. "There's something we need to talk about. Something important." Tsubaki's joyful expression dropped, but she nodded, understanding what he meant. Kidd cleared his throat, loud enough for Black Star and Tsubaki to jump apart, and he looked back at the group.  
"This is very, very, touching, but Tsubaki and Black Star need to get going, and I need the rest of you to clear the room so I can ask Demi those questions." Kidd-sama ordered, turning to the Spartoi. His eyes lit up. "Oh! And I almost forgot." He turned to Rhya and Shun. "You two, you will report to Professor Stein. Shun, you know where his building is. All missions you undertake must be cleared by him, and he must attend. Despite his old age, he is a worthy opponent." He then turned to Julia, Myrady, Kaido, and Scar. "You four will report to Sid. He works in your upper classmate's units. "  
"You mean we get the zombie?" Myrady asked, disinterestedly. Rhya's face turned slightly crestfallen.  
"Aw... I want the zombie..." Rhya pouted, but not seriously enough to seem childish. Myrady rolled her eyes as Kidd looked at Demi and Ran.  
"And you will report to Black Star." Kidd-sama decreed. Every-one's eyes went slightly wide in disbelief. Ran's face turned sour, her eyes glowering.  
"Yes, _sir." _Ran sneered. Without another word, she strode past the crowd of people, pushing everyone aside, and stormed out of the room. Keiran sighed, slowly following his meister.  
"I thought Keiran was blind," Rhya whispered to Shun. He shook his head.  
"His eyes were badly damaged, but he can just faintly see. His eyesight can never be fixed, so he relies on Ran a lot, but he can just make out basic shapes to understand where he's going." Shun explained. Rhya nodded. Kaido sighed and headed out the door, while Scar followed him close behind. The others slowly cleared out of the room, Rhya included. Demi and Haley were the only ones to remain, and as soon as Tsubaki and Black Star waved good-bye, Kidd-sama turned back to Demi and Haley, clasping his hands together.  
"Now that we're alone..." Kidd-sama began, "Why don't you tell me what exactly you saw in Romania?"

* * *

"I can't believe that you agreed to his deal!" Ran exclaimed, storming down the hall. It was later that evening, just after dinner. Keiran sighed, following Ran closely.

"Ran, you're not thinking logically about this at all," Keiran explained. "You have to set aside your pride sometimes to get what you actually want."  
"What I WANT is to figure out what the hell the Mad Hatter is and i WANT to stop him!" Ran raged.  
"Oh, really now? You seemed to completely forget that agenda when Black Star showed up," Keiran jabbed. Ran stopped and spun around, as Keiran came to a sudden halt, staring into space dazily.  
"Look. Black Star is an ass. I hate his fucking guts and I wish my mother would use the only form she has now to destroy him." Ran hissed. "But that's my deal. Yeah, I know. I have temper issues.  
"At least you admit it."  
"BUT I can't just let Shibusen take control of the Spartoi. And I'm sure as hell not reporting to _Black Star"_ -she spat his name- "Now, I have an idea."  
"Fuck, not another one of these..."  
"Shut it, Keiran. Chuba Cabra's has always been a witch headquarters. If me and Demi could just get in there, maybe we can find something out..."  
"Ran, don't bring Demi into this!" Keiran exclaimed. "She has a mind of her own, for one, and two, don't you think you've put everyone through enough?"  
"They knew what they were getting into with this group!" Ran snapped. Just as Ran said that, the faintest trace of Demi's voice could be heard. Ran made a snap decision and grabbed Keiran, quickly hiding around the corner of the other hallway.  
"Man, that was intense..." Demi muttered, just barely enough for Ran to hear. "All those Death Scythes in the room. I never realized there were so many."  
"Well, that's a small number compared to the number of weapons in the world," Haley replied. Demi sighed.  
"Still. Kidd-sama's really taking this seriously-" Demi stopped in her tracks. Haley skidded to a stop, looking at Demi.  
"Hey, what's up?" Haley asked. Demi scowled.  
"I know you're there, Ran." Demi hissed. Ran sighed. Nothing every got past Demi. She walked out from behind the wall, Keiran slowly following. Ran smiled kindly as Demi stared at her.  
"Look, I'm not telling you what we found." Demi snapped, gripping her hands into fists. Ran shook her head.  
"Oh, Demi, I'm not interested about that." Ran replied."I'm actually curious if you want to go on a little mission with me in a few minutes." Ran walked up to Demi. "I'm infiltrating Chupa Cabra's, and I'd like another girl to help me."  
"You want me to dress up as a prostitute so we can gather information after Kidd-sama JUST said that we had to clear everything with Black Star. That's really smart, Ran." Demi snapped again. Ran smiled evilly.  
"Black Star's an incompetent idiot. And besides, if you don't help me, I can't guarantee these lips will stay sealed." Ran replied in a sickly sweet manner. Demi's eyes were hidden by her sunglasses, but the rest of her face went nervous.  
"What are you talking about...?" Demi asked uneasily. Ran continued to smile.  
"Well, maybe I'll tell everyone a lie. A nasty lie. Maybe I could say that you tried to kiss me. Or even worse, tried to make out with me. Or maybe I could say that you've been murdering small animals in the dead of night. Julia would HATE you for that one. But no, lets not go with lies. You are immune to rumors. Lets stick with the truth."  
In one swift motion Ran removed Demi's sunglasses from her face. She had no chance to stop her, and even if she had, she wouldn't have noticed. Demi's eyes were a pale blue, the eyes of a blind woman.  
"RAN-" Demi roared, swiftly covering her eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
"I'm a ninja, remember?" Ran hissed. "Don't think I haven't heard you talking to Haley. How you hate how people treat Keiran, even though he's not truly blind. How you'd rather die than be babied by your peers. You even hate just asking Haley which restroom is which! If you don't help me, Demi, I will tell everyone your dirty little secret. Each and every mission you take will be dubbed too difficult for you. Hell, you might get kicked out of Shibusen! The only reason Scar and Keiran were accepted was because they were weapons, they don't need their full eyesight. But you, a meister... I'd love to see what happens to you!"  
"You fucking bitch!" Haley screamed, aiming a fist right at her. Keiran quickly stepped in front of her, grabbing his fist before the attack connected. Haley sneered, throwing his leg right to Keiran's face. Keiran ducked, swiping his free arm under Haley's other leg. Haley collapsed, grunting in pain.  
"Haley!" Demi exclaimed, confused. Ran stepped over Haley, uninterested, as she stood up to Demi.  
"Choose now. Help me, or face your worst fears." Ran hissed. Demi's face was conflicted with rage and fright, fight and flight. She grimaced, tilting her head down, giving the appearance that Demi was defeated.  
"What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Demi tied the belt to her costume with disgust. Ran's plan was to dress up as less than reputable people, but have their weapon's as part of their costume so hey could defend themselves if they faced trouble. Demi only had a few options-Elven princess, Native American, or warrior goddess. She's seen the costumes for the princess and the goddess, and she refused to have any part of it. So, she took Native American, which made her look slightly like a slutty Pocahontas. Haley stood in the background, not looking at Demi out of respect, but his face full of disgust.

"I'm going to kill Ran once this is over." Haley muttered. "I don't care if I get kicked out of Shibusen. This is fucking shit." Demi snorted, wrapping a bandage around her eyes to cover them.  
"Good. Make her scream." Demi hissed, violently tying the bandage in a knot. "Make her rue the day she ever made a fucking hooker out of me." Haley's face didn't show it, but Demi could sense the cruel smile he wanted to show.  
Demi and Haley were always a different kind of partner pair. Haley was quiet and solemn, and knew how to stay in line when it counted. Demi had none of that. Loud, sarcastic, kicking the shit out of anything that got in her way. Haley helped Demi 'see', and Demi acted as a friend in return, her enhanced soul perception detecting his emotions when his face remained emotionless to the world. Hell, for his birthday everyone got him either school books or skater gear. Demi was the only one who got him what he really wanted-a fluffy little kitten that he ended up naming Sir Kick Ass the 3rd.  
"Hey! Are you ready in there?" Ran yelled from the door. Demi scowled as Ran let herself in the door. She was in a black kimono with pink cherry blossoms, one that fit well to her figure, and the dress cut off right above her butt. Keiran was in her hand in fan mode, his black cloth matching Ran's outfit. Her hair was down, which was odd for Ran, but it was clipped off to the side with a sharp blue star.  
"Ready." Demi growled, gripping her hands into fists. Haley scowled with her, transforming into a box. Demi reached over easily and snatched him. She grabbed the strap of leather she had, tied it to the two ends of the box, and swung the strap over her shoulder. She felt off not having her bag with her, but she knew it wouldn't work in this scenario. Hopefully she wasn't going to need her ID.  
"Ok. Let's go." Ran muttered, spinning out the door. Demi followed, simply following Ran's soul, out the door of her apartment. She closed the door behind her, following Ran down the street. Haley had told her earlier that it was late, about 11 or so earlier, but Demi didn't really need that information. After all, she was blind. At least it meant no one would see her in this horrendous get up. The two of them walked for about 10 minutes before Ran stopped abruptly. Demi heard a knock, and the sound of a door opening.  
"Um, hi," Ran started. "We're-"  
"You're the new girls, aren't you!" A woman shouted. Demi cringed as she sensed her soul. The soul of a witch. "Come on in, you're late. Draco is going to be furious with you. Well, at least your outfits suit his taste. He's grown...weary of our current employees." Haley snorted.  
"Disgusting bastard..." Haley muttered. Demi sighed inwardly. Haley and Demi could communicate through their souls. Usually, they used this skill so Haley could give directions, but he liked to put his input in on certain scenarios. A lot.  
"Ok! C'mon, _Dezba_." Ran chimmed in a sickly sweet tone. Demi desperately tried to put on a straight face at the sound of her fake name, but she let a grimace slip through as she followed Ran's soul into the establishment.  
"Ok...follow Ran's soul. Ok. Stairs, step down. K, stop. Follow Ran's soul again." Haley instructed. Demi followed his instructions word for word, walking as if she could see where she was going. Ran looked back at her once and a while, but her efforts were wasted. Demi was doing fine on her own with Haley's instructions.  
"Ok, we're-" Haley cut short off his sentence. "H.O.L.Y. BITCH."  
"What?" Demi hissed. But it didn't frighten Haley. His soul was already quivering.  
"He...he has horns. And a _tail._" Haley muttered. "Fucking god, he looks like-"  
Demi didn't need him to continue. As soon as he finished with his description, suddenly Demi could feel the enormous weight of his soul. It was sour and vile, like a witch's, but it was terrible, much more terrible. It was fire red, smoking, with great horns and a tail with barbed spikes on the end. It was obvious from the feel of the soul that it wasn't a female, but that could only mean one thing. A witch's soul in the body of a man.  
"You're a warlock," Demi muttered. A voice laughed heartily, but it had an edge in it's sound, a voice that took pleasure in seeing bodies burn.  
"Impressive. I didn't expect a normal human to know that." Draco replied. A hand took Demi's arm strictly. Demi was prepared to pull out her bow until she realized it was only Ran, guiding her. Demi panicked suddenly, her face abandoning all sense of strength.  
_What are you doing? _Demi exclaimed in her head. _That way's CLOSER to his soul! Do you not understand? He's a WARLOCK!_  
"What's a warlock?" Ran asked sweetly, plopping onto the couch with Demi. Demi's body shook in terror, only a few feet from the source of the incredible power.  
"Eh? Oh, its a male witch." Draco replied. The sound of a bottle breaking filled the air, indicating he just threw a beer bottle to the wall. "There are a few differences, of course."  
"Like what?" Ran inquired, wrapping her arm around his. Her breasts pressed against his arms for added emphasis. Demi could feel the scowl crawling over Haley's soul.  
"Heh.. like what?" Draco asked. "For one, warlocks take after mythical creatures instead of actual animals. Two, their powers are more for attack than defense. Three, their a lot more powerful." Demi could feel his soul swell at the mere mention of power. "Much, much more powerful."  
"How powerful?" Ran asked, hiding her mouth behind her fan, showing her eyes. Draco smiled, his teeth razor sharp. He laughed.  
"Let's just say this. Warlocks rarely live to see life out of the crib because their so powerful." Draco replied, taking another gulp of beer. "I'm just lucky my mum died giving birth and those damn human doctors are too dumb to notice a warlock when they see one."  
"But how did you survive?" Ran asked in awe. "If witches hate warlocks, how did you survive?"  
"Oh, I have a pretty little witch to take care of me. C'mere, Ravenna."  
Demi shivered again as she felt the soul protect drop from a second person. This time, a witch. Her soul was deep blue and silver, with wings and talons. But Demi felt that she could relax now that Draco's master was in the room. She was sure to have some decency.  
"Yes, Draco?" Ravenna asked dully. Draco's laid back face turned dark, his soul turning into a menacing dark red. He stood up, making Ran fly back to the couch, kicked down the coffee table, and grabbed Ravenna by the throat, raising her off the ground.  
"I thought I've TOLD you to be _happier_ to see me." Draco growled, smoke drifting from the edges of his mouth. Ravenna's eyes were wide, tears streaming down the sides of her cheek as she struggled for air.  
"Y-yes, Draco..." Ravenna croaked. Draco glared at her as he dropped her to the ground. She collapsed, inhaling deeply, coughing to clear her throat.  
"How...how did this ever happen..." Ravenna murmured, low enough for Draco to ignore but Demi's highly tuned ears to hear.. "He was such a good boy. So kind. He even brought me flowers every day. How did...how did he turn into...into this MONSTER?" Demi shuttered as she realized what the words meant. It was something much more dangerous than she could imagine.  
Draco was the one pulling the strings.  
"Eh, get out of here." Draco growled. "Go get Chrona. We need to get her to London. The Hatter's going to awaken soon." Draco smiled evilly, looking over at Ran and Demi again. "As for you too, enough chit chat. Let's have some fun."  
In a split second Draco strode over and pinned Demi onto the couch. Ran crawled back in terror, her only reaction being to watch. Draco laughed as Demi shook, a long tongue snaking out of his mouth, licking up Demi's neck.  
"That's IT!" Demi screamed. All sense of fear abandoned her, and her headstrong attitude was back. She kicked Draco right between the legs, and as he moved his arms to his nuts, she stood up and roundhouse kicked him in the face, then swung the bow over her shoulder and drew back the string, a sharp green arrow forming from their spirit energy.  
"DEMI! What the HELL are you doing?" Ran exclaimed. Demi sneered.  
"What the fuck do you THINK I'm doing?" Demi exclaimed back, her teeth bared. "I agreed to get information. I did NOT agree to be his fucking SEX SLAVE!" Draco steadily got onto his knees rubbing his jaw. He looked at Demi and laughed. This time, his laugh was much more menacing.  
Demi realized she might have made a mistake at that moment.  
"So, Shibusen's finally on my trail, huh?" Draco asked, standing up. "And they sent two pretty little pieces of flesh to get information. That's pathetic." Draco closed his eyes and pointed to Demi. "I see that you're getting a little headstrong. Let's fix that."  
Draco's finger lowered, and with it, Demi's courage. Demi's arms started to quiver as she looked at Draco. Suddenly everything about him seemed to reek of menace and nightmares. His soul was swelling up, larger than anything she's ever seen, larger even than Kidd-sama's. Demi's arms began to shake so much that she dropped the bow immediately, the arrow dissipating from its string.  
"DEMI!" Haley screamed. But Demi could barely hear him. All she could feel was fear. She knew her fate. Draco had made that perfectly clear.  
She was going to die here.  
Suddenly Draco screamed in pain. Demi's fear disappeared with that single scream. She could feel Ran and Keiran's souls, much more powerful than she had ever felt them before.  
"Enchanted sword mode..." Ran murmured darkly. Draco threw his head over to Ran.  
"You..." He hissed. "It's your turn to feel fear." Again he pointed at Ran, slowly dragging his finger down. Ran's soul stayed calm though. Demi's mind began to spin.  
Warlock...he has similar power to witches. Witches speciality is on a certain topic. Trickery. Regeneration. Possession. What is his, what is his?  
Draco's laughter interrupted Demi's thoughts. Demi could feel his soul tense up.  
"So, you can't feel fear, eh?" Draco asked. "Then you must already be mad."  
_That's it!_ Demi exclaimed. _He manipulates fear. Dragons have always been known to be fearful creatures. Its only natural that he can manipulate it! But how can you beat it? How?_  
"Simple." Haley's soul replied darkly. "You give into the madness."  
Ran screamed as she lunged towards Draco, faster than she could ever be alone, but abruptly she stopped in midair. Demi could hear he sound of Keiran clinking against the marble floor, and Ran shout in rage. Demi gritted her teeth, angry that it had taken her this long to snap out of it. She reached for Haley, only to meet the touch of a cold, electric sting. Demi pulled her hand back quickly, utterly confused.  
"Demi! Demi, are you alright?" Haley exclaimed. Demi shook her head.  
"Why can't I touch you?" Demi asked him. "What's going on?"  
"You're in a force field! Ravenna put one up around you two when Ran attacked. Don't worry, I'm going to get you out!" Haley shouted. Demi began to panic.  
"You idiot! You can't do that. If Draco catches all of us, who's going to tell Kidd-sama?" Demi demanded. Demi could sense that he wanted to argue back, but he had nothing.  
"I can't just leave you. You're my partner." Haley muttered. Demi scowled playfully.  
"I can take care of myself. You and Keiran have to make it back to Shibusen. Ran will be furious that I'd let you go in the first place. If you don't do it for me, do it with the knowledge that it'll be a thorn in Ran's side." Demi encouraged. Demi could tell that Haley wanted to laugh at that, but the mood was too dark for that.  
"Good luck." Haley murmured. Demi nodded. As soon as she broke the connection between her and Haley, she could feel Draco's cold hand on her arm, gripping her tightly.  
"And YOU-" Draco accused. "You will feel fear beyond what you could ever dream."  
Demi exhaled, trying to keep her courage, only to feel it slowly slip away from her as she fell unconscious from the pure feeling of fear encompassing her soul.

* * *

"Where's Ran?" Black Star exclaimed as he burst through the classroom doors. Evans looked at him, slightly alarmed but mostly pissed.  
"Dude, what the hell? I'm teaching. That's so not cool." Evan snapped as Black Star ran into the room, scanning his eyes through the desks. He was breathing heavily, which was a surprise even for Black Star.  
"She's not here...neither is Keiran..." Black Star choked. He turned to Evans quickly, grabbing his shoulder. "Do you know where Ran or Keiran is?" Evans rolled his eyes as he grabbed Black Star's hand and threw it off his shoulder.  
"I don't know, dude." Evans explained, exasperated. "But Demi and Haley are gone too. Maybe they just decided to skip together."  
"Bull shit! I just checked the entire city! Sid said that Ran never checked in with him last night. And Tsubaki checked her room this morning, it was empty!" Black Star exclaimed. Evans' pissed expression turned serious, as he looked around the room.  
"Has anyone seen Ran or Keiran?" Evans demanded. The mass of students shook their heads, when the panting of another person interrupted the two of them. Black Star and Evans' heads whipped around to see Haley and Keiran. Haley was panting heavily, Keiran's arm wrapped around his neck. Keiran was unconcious, blood pooling from the side of his head. Haley wasn't in much better shape himself. After all, its not easy escaping from a witch's hideout.  
"You two!" Evans exclaimed. "Where were you? Where's Ran and Demi?" Black Star strode over, gripping Keiran by the shirt, lifting him off the floor.  
"Where's my daughter?" He exclaimed. Keiran didn't respond, still utterly unconscious. Haley looked down, collapsing onto his knees.  
"They have them..." Haley muttered, before collapsing onto the floor. That was the only warning the two needed. Black Star dropped Keiran, letting him collapse to the floor with Haley, his eyes wide in disbelief, trying to comprehend how on Earth he allowed his daughter to be captured by the enemy.

* * *

Note from UndeadxXxOtaku- Holy crap, that took forever! I'm surprised I wrote this much. Anywho, I have another update on pictures. UndeadxXxOtaku on deviantart. These are the enemies and the older versions of the characters, as well as one OC pair that I left out of the first (they had a bit of attention at the beginning, but they'll play a part in the next chapter). They'll be uploaded later tomorrow, since I only have limited time on the computer  
I'm sorry if the fight scenes and the ending seem a bit sketchy! I'm not very good at those points. (I'm sorry Ran and Demi T_T you got kidnapped...)  
Thanks for reading, and I'll be back soon with another chapter!


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